Jacks back and this time he's angry.
Whenever there is a song on the album that shares the same title as the album, its human nature to give it special attention and to see if it has any specific meaning or if its just a good phrase or saying. With The Raconteurs now releasing 'Broken Boy Soldier', the title track as a single, all focus turns to the song and the meanings behind it.
Musically, it's a monster of a song from the initial thumping drums to the guitars that whirr away at the low end before the passionate delivery of Mr. White kicks in. Lyrically, it seems an introspective song, questioning the things that have gone before and on how to best deal with them. Throughout his whole career, Jack has used metaphors and artistic licence rather well and the way the song is couched, possibly gives more questions than answers as to what is really going on.
Taking the musical lead, it may be viewed that the track is quite an angry song and is certainly the most aggressive track on the album, with some of the more primal screams that occur near the end of the song being extremely impressive.
It may lack the familiarity of 'Steady As She Goes' or the radio-friendly cheer of 'Hands' and in that instance perhaps the song isn't an ideal choice for a single but as a song, 'Broken Boy Soldier' is more than capable of taking care of itself.
The radio session version of the track as a B-side to the CD single is thankfully an extremely altered version. Virtually acoustic and slowed down, the piano takes over the riff parts and the backing vocals are increased to a rather sinister level of volume and tone. The release is well worth picking up for this version alone.
Yet again, Jack, Jack, Brendan and Patrick turn up trumps and for a side project, this venture keeps getting stronger at every turn.