To mark 10 years since the release of Best Coast's formative single "Boyfriend," the band have shared an updated version of the track, complete with gender and sexuality-inclusive lyrics and cover art.
Additionally, Best Coast have announced that they'll be donating all proceeds from purchases made today through Bandcamp Friday to The Trevor Project, a charity that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services LGBTQ young people under the age of 25.
Alongside its release, frontwoman Bethany Cosentino has shared a message about the song's history and how, over the years, it's been adopted by the queer community as "a bit of an anthem."
She wrote:
When I was 22 years old I wrote a song about a guy I was quite literally, obsessed with, called "Boyfriend." This obsession took up a lot of my time and mental energy. In the decade since writing this song, I have had a lot of time to reflect on not only that obsession, but the way in which I have at times, glorified obsessive and toxic romantic relationships in my songwriting. This song in particular started to feel problematic to me around the time I really started working on myself at age 30. I would listen back to my lyrics and think about how much I was neglecting myself and how I made this guy the protagonist of my own life and story.
Somewhere down the line, I started noticing that this song in particular seemed to be a bit of an anthem for the LGBTQ+ community. I would get tagged in social media posts of guys proposing to their boyfriends with the song in the background, I would get countless messages from Queer fans about how they put this song on a playlist for their crush and then their crush became their partner, I met lesbian and gay couples at shows who told me they had their first kiss to this song. Suddenly I realized that it had a whole new meaning than the one it did when I first wrote it. That is one of the most special parts of art - what the artist creates can be interpreted in so many different ways by the people who experience it - and the experience of this song through the eyes of the LGBTQ+ community of Best Coast fans, is truly the way I want it to be experienced.
With all that being said, here is a new, reimagined version of "Boyfriend" that includes everyone. For TODAY ONLY, this version will be available to buy on our Bandcamp, with all proceeds going to The Trevor Project, an organization that focuses on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth. The core of Best Coast songs have always been about struggling with your identity while trying to keep your head above water, so I deeply care about any organization that focuses on mental health awareness.
Earlier this year, Best Coast released their fourth studio album, Always Tomorrow.
"Boyfriend" originally appeared on their 2010 debut full-length record, Crazy for You. To honour the anniversary, the band will perform a special livestream "Birthday Party" event through Seated on August 14, which is scheduled to feature appearances by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Hayley Williams of Paramore and Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES, among others. Tickets are on sale here.
Listen to Best Coast's 10th anniversary edition of "Boyfriend" below, where you'll also find some decade-old photos of the band.
Head over to their Bandcamp to purchase the track and support The Trevor Project.
Additionally, Best Coast have announced that they'll be donating all proceeds from purchases made today through Bandcamp Friday to The Trevor Project, a charity that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services LGBTQ young people under the age of 25.
Alongside its release, frontwoman Bethany Cosentino has shared a message about the song's history and how, over the years, it's been adopted by the queer community as "a bit of an anthem."
She wrote:
When I was 22 years old I wrote a song about a guy I was quite literally, obsessed with, called "Boyfriend." This obsession took up a lot of my time and mental energy. In the decade since writing this song, I have had a lot of time to reflect on not only that obsession, but the way in which I have at times, glorified obsessive and toxic romantic relationships in my songwriting. This song in particular started to feel problematic to me around the time I really started working on myself at age 30. I would listen back to my lyrics and think about how much I was neglecting myself and how I made this guy the protagonist of my own life and story.
Somewhere down the line, I started noticing that this song in particular seemed to be a bit of an anthem for the LGBTQ+ community. I would get tagged in social media posts of guys proposing to their boyfriends with the song in the background, I would get countless messages from Queer fans about how they put this song on a playlist for their crush and then their crush became their partner, I met lesbian and gay couples at shows who told me they had their first kiss to this song. Suddenly I realized that it had a whole new meaning than the one it did when I first wrote it. That is one of the most special parts of art - what the artist creates can be interpreted in so many different ways by the people who experience it - and the experience of this song through the eyes of the LGBTQ+ community of Best Coast fans, is truly the way I want it to be experienced.
With all that being said, here is a new, reimagined version of "Boyfriend" that includes everyone. For TODAY ONLY, this version will be available to buy on our Bandcamp, with all proceeds going to The Trevor Project, an organization that focuses on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth. The core of Best Coast songs have always been about struggling with your identity while trying to keep your head above water, so I deeply care about any organization that focuses on mental health awareness.
Earlier this year, Best Coast released their fourth studio album, Always Tomorrow.
"Boyfriend" originally appeared on their 2010 debut full-length record, Crazy for You. To honour the anniversary, the band will perform a special livestream "Birthday Party" event through Seated on August 14, which is scheduled to feature appearances by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Hayley Williams of Paramore and Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES, among others. Tickets are on sale here.
Listen to Best Coast's 10th anniversary edition of "Boyfriend" below, where you'll also find some decade-old photos of the band.
Head over to their Bandcamp to purchase the track and support The Trevor Project.
