Boyfriend | 5ive Songs

In the 75th edition of 5ive Songs (2022), we select five songs that are associated with BOYFRIEND in some form or fashion. 

Welcome to 5ive Songs, where we keep things short and sweet – no extra calories or needless fluff! There’s a theme/topic, five songs, and a short blurb.  Yes, it’s a playlist, but it’s a miniature playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 75th edition of 5ive Songs (2022), we select five songs that are associated with BOYFRIEND in some form or fashion.  Okay, let’s get into it!

1. Dove Cameron, “Boyfriend”   

🎵 “Boyfriend,”  • 🏷 Disruptor / Columbia • 📅 2022

Normally, if a girl is singing a song about a boyfriend, the assumption is that the lens is, well, heterosexual to the nth degree.  That is not the case with 🎙 Dove Cameron, whose song, 🎵 “Boyfriend,” is NOT straight 🌈.  Well, the actual boyfriend referenced in the song may be, but Cameron is urging the girl who has a bf to, um, change sides you might say. “I could be a better boyfriend than him,” she sings in the chorus, continuing, “I could do the shit that he never did / Up all night, I won’t quit /… Plus, all my clothes would fit.” Ooh-la-la! Cameron penned “Boyfriend” alongside , 🎼 ✍ Skyler Stonestreet, 🎼 ✍ Delacey, and 🎛 Evan Blair, who also puts in work behind the boards.

“Boyfriend” brought excitement to playlists everywhere in 2022.  Even better, Dove Cameron wasn’t straight about the excitement, if you catch my drift.  She’s excited her and her prospect are alone in the first verse, asserting in the first pre-chorus, “The universe must have divined this / What am I gonna do? Not grab your wrist?” Facts! Of course, she gives sound advice, at least from her perspective, in the second verse: “I would leave with me tonight.”  Dove sees that her boyfriend isn’t treating her right, and, she knows she could atone and be better than he ever could.  It’s an absolutely intriguing theme.  Furthermore, Dove sounds great over a jazzy, vintage-pop infused backdrop (shout out to Evan).  

2. Harry Styles, “Boyfriends” 

💿 Harry’s House • 🏷 Erskine / Columbia • 📅 2022

🎵 “Boyfriends” appears as the penultimate track on 💿 Harry’s House. Harry’s House, of course, is the third studio album by 🏆 Grammy-winning pop superstar, 🎙 Harry Styles.  It’s unsurprising that Styles had a dominant debut on the Billboard 200 – he’s kind of a big deal! While the expectation in a song like “Boyfriends” is that Harry is going to tease us one more about his sexuality, that’s not the case this time!   

“Boyfriends” finds Mr. Styles speaking about the bad boyfriends of others.  He speaks to the girlfriends who, “Love a fool who knows just how to get under your skin.” Oh my! Give him credit for the theme, thoughtfulness, and perhaps most of all, his gorgeous vocals.  Perhaps “Boyfriends” isn’t the crowning achievement from Harry’s House (there are so many bops), but it’s another notable, well-rounded moment.

Appears in 🔻:  

• 13 B Songs: No Rhyme or Reason, Vol. 2  

3. Demi Lovato, “My Girlfriends are my Boyfriend” (Ft. Saweetie) 

💿 Dancing with the Devil… The Art of Starting Over • 🏷 Island • 📅 2021 

“I found the love of my life (I found the love of my life) / Wait, I mean the loves of my life (I mean the loves of my life)…” Uh-oh – Oh, $hi†! In 2021, 🏆 Grammy-nominated pop artist 🎙 Demi Lovato returned with her seventh studio album, 💿 Dancing with the Devil… The Art of Starting Over.  Given the trials and tribulations experienced, what better way for her to share her story than with music? While Dancing with the Devil…The Art of Starting Over has heavier moments, there are also fun, lighter moments like 🎵 “My Girlfriends are my Boyfriend” featuring rapper,  🎙 Saweetie.   

“Don’t need a ring or a vow / I got my day ones around / They’re perfect, they’re priceless / Forever like diamonds.” Now that’s a mic drop if I do say so myself! The infectious “My Girlfriends are my Boyfriends” is a modern pop joint, set in a minor key. Demi delivers relatively cool vocals.  She sounds as if she barely breaks a sweat through most of the record. Even so, she makes it clear that no boys are allowed on this one – it’s all about her girls! In the chorus, she asserts, “My girlfriends are my boyfriend / Ain’t nobody know me better / ‘Til forever do us part / Yeah, we’ll be partying together.” Woo! Her point is, she can depend on her girlfriends to support her through thick and thin.  The same can’t be said of these lame-ass boys! Anyways, Saweetie joins the mix on the third verse, adding more swagger and freshness to this vibe: “Cop whatever for my ladies ‘cause they D4L (Facts) /They my wifeys for lifey, they my BFFL’s (Mwah!).” 

4. PmBata, “I hate her boyfriend’s face”  

🎵 “I hate her boyfriend’s face” • 🏷 300 Entertainment LLC • 📅 2022

“She’s in love with a guy I keep seeing every day.” Oh, really, 🎙 PmBata? Are you cheating on her, or something! Please, explain! “In my camera, in my mirror, and I hate his fuckin’ face.” Okay, so, no cheating because it is clear you do NOT like this guy.  Still, more information needed, please! “But she’s in love with his eyes, this boy is everything she needs / But everything means nothin’ if I can’t love him / The same way she loves me.” Oh, man – that hits deep!  

On 🎵 “I hate her boyfriend’s face,”  the person that PmBata hates is himself.  He’s her boyfriend and clearly, she thinks the world of him.  The problem is, he does not like himself.  Essentially, in order for him to love her, he must love himself.  “I knew from the start I was broken, hopeless, darlin’ it’s over,” he sings in the second verse, concluding, “I hope this gives closure.” In some ways, this is a sad scenario.  The singer has someone who adores him, yet, he’s getting in his own way. At least he admits to his issues and ultimately doesn’t want to make her suffer because of his issues.  This brief record is perfect food for thought.   

5. Ariana Grande & Social House, “Boyfriend”  

💿 Everything Changed… • 🏷 SRV LabelCo • 🗓 2019  

Post- 💿 thank u, next 🏆 Grammy winner 🎙 Ariana Grande dropped the single, 🎵 “Boyfriend” with rising duo, 🎙 Social House. “Boyfriend” ultimately appears on Social House’s EP, 💿 Everything Changed… “Boyfriend” gives her, as well as the duo, a high-flying, totally sick pop single embracing urban and hip-hop sensibilities.  From the jump, she’s fierce and unapologetic AF.  “I’m a motherfuckin’ train wreck,” is the first lyric she sings, instantly setting the tone.  If further confirmation was needed that she was pissed off, well, she asserts, “And you don’t seem to give a fuck.”  

With a straightforward form, Grande sings the first verse, followed by the pre-chorus, and an absolutely infectious chorus: 

“You ain’t my boyfriend   

And I ain’t your girlfriend  

But you don’t want me to see nobody else  

And I don’t want you to see nobody  

… But you don’t want me to touch nobody else  

Baby, we ain’t gotta tell nobody.”   

Interesting turn of events, right? 🎙 Mikey Foster sings the second verse and pre-chorus, playing off of what Grande performed previously.  Like her, he’s also “a train wreck” and he “lose(s) my mind when it comes to you.” 🎙 Scootie arrives for the third verse, followed by a bridge sung alongside Grande.  Perhaps the pop wheel isn’t reinvented with “Boyfriend” but it’s solid. 

Appears in 🔻:  

• 50 Awesome Boy or Girl Songs 

Boyfriend: 5ive Songs No. 75 (2022) [📷: 300 Entertainment LLC, Brent Faulkner, Clovis Cheminot, Columbia, Disruptor, Erskine, Island, The Musical Hype, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pixabay, SRV LabelCo]