Dutch Men Form A Boy Band As Last-Ditch Effort To Stop Brexit

Dutch Men Form A Boy Band As Last-Ditch Effort To Stop Brexit

In tense, divided times, music is often held up as a salve, one of those things that will bring people back together. While the efficacy of the more treacly end of protest music could be debated, and while the idea of a pop song uniting anybody when the other side is choosing to live in an objectively false reality feels shaky at best, someone has to try, right? Well, that’s the intent of the Breunion Boys — a new Dutch boy band formed as a “final, desperate, ultimate attempt” attempt to stop Brexit.

As Reuters reports, the Breunion Boys are the brainchild of Julia Veldman, an animation artist. Unlike Gorillaz, she didn’t concoct a virtual band — she recruited five men to become the Breunion Boys, several of them Dutch college kids. Her inspiration came from the British boy band tradition, specifically old acts like Take That. “I thought, what else will work better than the voice of Take That, or a boy band — the best thing Britain ever gave us — to convince them to take us back?” Veldman told Reuters. As such, membership in Breunion Boys came with three prerequisites: vocal capability, dancing ability, and a commitment to keeping the EU-Britain relationship alive.

“Look how angry many Brits are towards the EU and how many Europeans are angry towards Britain for leaving,” Breunion Boy Joshua Alagbe also told Reuters. “I think this emotion should be answered. We are kind of an answer to the emotion.”

So, as the group’s opening salvo in their attempt to avert Brexit (and the social/financial implications all around), we have their first single “Britain Come Back.” Written by Dutch artist Flavia Faas, the song is exactly what it sounds like — a near-breakup song begging a partner to come back, but instead pleading with a Great Britain still bleeding from the gunshot wound in its foot.

The video begins with a woman in a boat leaving the shore. This is Britain, you see, and the rest of the video takes place on the beach (i.e., continental Europe) with these five men trying to call Britain back from the horizon. Here is a sample line: “I cannot believe/ This is the end/ Oh no/ I still feel your love inside me/ I still sing your words.” Here’s another: “There’s always been a sea between us/ We used to sail it together.” And one more: “It’s not too late to Remain/ It’s not too late to come back again/ It’s not too late to build a bridge and reunite.”

There’s also a rap verse in which one of the members says “Look at what you leave behind” and the camera zooms in on his abs.

You can listen to it below, if you are so inclined:

The Breunion Boys hope to tour British pubs to get their message out which, sure, there’s probably a good shot of changing people’s minds here. I know what you’re thinking: This is presented so earnestly, but it must be satire. Well, these are the times we live in. Who knows, maybe Breunion Boys will prove us all wrong and they will save Britain from itself and stop Brexit, and then Veldman can create a boy band to impeach Trump.

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