"Boys Keep Swinging" is a song by English musician David Bowie, released on 27 April 1979 by RCA Records in the United Kingdom as the lead single from his 1979 album Lodger.

Bowie gave an acclaimed performance of the song on Saturday Night Live in December 1979 and later revived it for his 1995 Outside Tour.

Although it received mixed reviews on release, with some finding a lack of payoff, commentators have reacted more positively to "Boys Keep Swinging" in later decades, with some naming it one of Bowie's best songs.

[8][11][12] Future King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew contributed a solo towards the end of the song, which was composited from multiple takes.

"[8][9] Speaking with biographer David Buckley, Belew stated that Bowie wrote the lyrics and recorded his vocals for the song in just seven days.

[18] Simon House plays violin on the track, whose contribution O'Leary calls a "sawing background drone" and compares it to the Velvet Underground's "Waiting for the Man" (1967).

[8] Mike Powell of Pitchfork compared the song to the Village People, but noted that "Boys" is "less secure about its sexuality".

O'Leary interprets the song as "a boy's idea of manhood as being like hinging a Scout troop", evidenced by the lyrics "Uncage the colours!

"[8] On release, Jon Savage of Melody Maker analysed the track as "a vaguely homoerotic, Ladybird look at male adolescence",[12] while in 2008, Uncut's Chris Roberts described it as "a tongue-in-cheek, camp dig at American values".

[20] Author James Perone argues that within the context on Lodger, "Boys" presents various stereotypes that are expected of males, such as the idea that all they need to do is keep trying to "work it out" and that feeling militaristic is manly.

However, the song itself does not answer questions raised that counteract these stereotypes; he notes that the album's next track, "Repetition", does give an example on how to deal with frustration.

[24] The promo and Everett performance were filmed back-to-back, although the former featured extra backup dancers who turned out to be Bowie in drag.

[25] However, due to the song's gender-bending video and lyrics, RCA refused to release the single in the United States, as they had done with "John, I'm Only Dancing" in 1972, choosing "Look Back in Anger" instead.

[10] Bowie recorded performances of "Boys Keep Swinging", along with "The Man Who Sold the World" (1970) and "TVC 15" (1976), for Saturday Night Live on 15 December 1979, although it was not broadcast until 5 January 1980.

Bowie was joined by Alomar, Murray, Davis, Isolar I tour guitarist Stacey Heydon, Blondie keyboardist Jimmy Destri, and backing singers Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias.

[28] Pegg calls the performance "one of Bowie's finest television appearances",[23] while Marc Spitz considered it "one of the best and strangest moments" in SNL history.

[12] In a more negative review, Rolling Stone's Greil Marcus found "Boys" "so [full of irony] that it ceases to have any meaning at all.

"[32] Paul Yamada of New York Rocker felt the song was the most "adventurous" on the LP, but it lacked overall satisfaction: "Why couldn't this have been worked into something truly worthwhile?

"[33] The Chicago Tribune's Lynn Van Matre expressed disappointment with Lodger but noted that tracks such as "Boys" would be entertaining for longtime Bowie fans.

Writing for The Rolling Stone Album Guide in 2004, Rob Sheffield commented on the "razor-sharp musical corners" and "new layers of wit and generosity in the songwriting" on Lodger, highlighting "Boys Keep Swinging", "D.J."

[36] In Ultimate Classic Rock, Bryan Wawzenek considered "Boys" and "Fantastic Voyage" the two best songs on the album.