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Les Boys Lyrics

Les boys do cabaret
Les boys are glad to be gay
They’re not afraid now
Disco bar in germany
Les boys are glad to be
Upon parade now

Les boys got leather straps
Les boys got ss caps
But they got no gun now
Get dressed up get a little risque
Got to do a little s & m these days
It’s all in fun now

Les boys come on again
For the high class whores
And the businessmen
Who drive in their mercedes benz
To a disco bar in old munchen

They get the jokes that the d.j. makes
They get nervous and they make mistakes
They’re bad for business
Some tourist take a photograph
Les boys don’t get one laugh
He says they’re useless

Late at night when they’re gone away
Les boys dream of jean genet
High heel shoes and a black beret
And the posters on the wall that say
Les boys do cabaret
Les boys are glad to be gay
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Cover art for Les Boys lyrics by Dire Straits

As explained by mark knopfler in an interview, he and the band were looking for somewhere to get food after one of there shows whilst in Germany. A hotel worker from where they were staying directed them up to an event at there club(disco) bar.

This event happened to be a cabaret, and this song simply is marks story regarding these events!

In no way is this song offensive, he is telling you that they are proud. Also this was the late 70's so things were slightly different back then which is why they may have found it amusing.

Whilst not one of there better songs, I think its quite comical and catchy with some nice guitar playing from the man himself.

Cover art for Les Boys lyrics by Dire Straits

This song was written after the Straits had performed at a club in Germany, and they'd seen this act. It's a simple bit of reporting on Knopfler's part - he used to be a journalist. It's amusing, but as usual with Knopfler, very perceptive, and slightly melancholy. It's certainly not one of my favourites, but I wouldn't call it stupid!

Cover art for Les Boys lyrics by Dire Straits

I dońt believe the cabaret story. I don't but it. I'm a Dire Straits fan and I'm gay. Let's face it: Les Boys is a song about gays, not only german, all gays. It's a bit of a harsh comment, but true. As usual it's a vignette about life, with a bit of caustic humor. The fact that it sounds a bit silly is what makes it so good. It enhances the ridiculous side of this whole gay behavior. The lyrics point out the contradictions of this lifestyle, how artificial, and childish it can be, the bars, the S&M thing, the leather scene, the drag queens. It criticizes with the usual humor from this very intelligent man. I love the song and totally agree with it. I don't consider it homophobic af all. It is more of a wink. A warning with tenderness. If you are queer, you don't have to act like one. Act like the human being you are. Don' t get lost in this bad theater. That´s what it is. Under the SS regime, the gays were gassed. To put it in Germany was to show how risqué to wear the SS cap. Or for a man to dress like a woman . Or dress like a biker, or loose your life pumping iron to look like one. How futile! As usual, a song to make you think a bit. A sort of "where do you think you're going" with that? Great song.

@guy-paul10

First line I meant: I don't buy it

@guy-paul10 that does not mean the German disco story isn't true.

When this song came out, in NZ anyway, homosexuality had been illegal a few years before. We took it to mean gay people could be more open as well as a wry comment about how some of those opposed to homosexuality were gay, particularly the wide spread belief the SA leadership was gay and the Nazi party was founded in a Munich gay bar. Beliefs still used to try to discredit gay people in the 70s.

At the time, popular images of gay people was that they were...

Cover art for Les Boys lyrics by Dire Straits

You can listen here what Mark Knopfler tells about it in concert: https://youtu.be/4oZd24wW3JA?feature=shared

@BigJim88 So good

Cover art for Les Boys lyrics by Dire Straits

If you are offended by this you need to get a life......It is lighthearted commentary on the German club scene. The "Gay" is meant not in the homosexual way.....more in the literal happy way. They are playing a part he finds amusing in this world of crazy relationships, nothing more. The whole album is about relationships between people.

Remove the big chip from your shoulder guymontag

No chip here, but the song is most likely about the gay lifestyle of yesteryear. You must know who Jean Genet is and his relation to this song; he (a famous novelist) was discharged from the military after having been caught having sex with a man. For me the song is about allowing gay men to be who they are...to express themselves freely, much the way Jean Genet (a novelist) expressed himself through words in his novels. The tourist in the lyrics wants to enjoy the men (he takes photos), yet he laughs at them. During the time of caberet,...

Not Valid

But I don't think he is being vicious. Cabaret theater is very different whether it is gay or not. The acts mingle with the guests who are eating and drinking.

Oh it is definitely about the gay scene in Germany. Like you said they are proud to be homosexual and no longer hide it, but I think Knopfler is trying to say at any depth is that they have relegated themselves to an act, which may be less honorable than Jean Genet who led let's say an interesting life. They are letting themselves be treated like objects or...

Not Valid
Cover art for Les Boys lyrics by Dire Straits

I was only 15 and pretty naive when I first heard this song and I knew instantly that it was a breezy vignette of a visit to a Cabaret show in Germany. I never saw the need to perceive it as anything else, lyrically. Musically, it's an opportunity to play around with the sound of that increasingly obscure style of music and a way to give a short upbeat ending to an album with several long involved tunes.

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Cover art for Les Boys lyrics by Dire Straits

This song is the "boil on the backside" of what up until then was an excellent album. Silly.

Cover art for Les Boys lyrics by Dire Straits

I think yes, he uses gay in the "homosexual" sense, but I don't see where he's making fun of them. I think it's like a lighthearted pro gay song. I might be wrong, but I don't see how.

Cover art for Les Boys lyrics by Dire Straits

Seems to me a lot of people don't get what he sings about, the true meaning, but it's coming more apparent away from mainstream media. Ss caps, but no gun now..? Can think of a few stand out families from Germany ha

Cover art for Les Boys lyrics by Dire Straits

I think it\'s obvious that this song is about gay guys in a bar. Whether it was at a real cabaret, or fictional, it\'s pretty straight (no pun intended) forward. Nothing offensive or mysterious about it at all.