Owen and Hobbs both grew up in the village of Wendover, Buckinghamshire. They met when they were still in school and started writing songs together. They began writing and recording songs for The Boy Least Likely To in the summer of 2002. The group created the independent label Too Young to Die as a means to release their music. Their first release was the 7" single "Paper Cuts" in 2003. They released three singles and completed the recording of their debut album before they played any live shows. Their debut album The Best Party Ever was released in the UK in February of 2005. The album was released in the United States in late Spring 2006.
The Best Party Ever was included in the Pitchfork top 50 albums of 2005 and was number 8 in the Rough Trade Shop top 100 albums of the same year.
They are known for the colourful characters that they use in their artwork, which are drawn by Jof Owen's brother, Tim. The artwork for their second album features 3D versions of the drawings that have been knitted.
The band describe their own sound as "Country Disco". They were included in the top ten bands of 2006 in Rolling Stone magazine, and described as sounding like what would happen "if all your childhood stuffed animals got together and started a band."
In October 2006 they toured the United Kingdom with Razorlight.
The touring band commonly included: Alistair Hamer, dr., Adam Chetwood, gtr., Anthony Bishop, bs., Bahar Brunton, keys/vio., Amanda Applewood, keys./bvs/cakes.
In September 2006 they began work on their second album, and in February 2008 the band posted two new songs from their upcoming album on their Myspace.
The Law Of the Playground was then released on April 14 2009.
Website: http://www.theboyleastlikelyto.co.uk
Label: http://www.tooyoungtodierecords.com
Fansite: http://www.thegirlleastlikelyto.com
I Box Up All the Butterflies
The Boy Least Likely To Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Relax in the summertime
With all the flowers in bloom
I creep across the countryside
With my net and my bait
And a pocketful of bailer twine
I break the promises I made
I ruin
Everything
As I sit in a field of grass
In the spring
Listening
To the beat of its little heart
And to its wings
Struggling
For air under an upturned glass
And I put a pin
Through its wings
And I bottle it up,
I box it up,
And bury it in my heart
Just as I know my friends
I also know my enemies
Are the birds and the bees
And my own little insecurities
I creep around in the dark
And I tear up all the dandelions
And I break my own heart
As I box up all the butterflies
Tirelessly,
Following
Its tiny butterfly tracks
Across the field in the spring
With a plastic carrier bag
Full of fish,
Hooks, and string
I lay a little matchbox trap
And I put pin
Through its wings
And I bottle it up,
I box it up
And bury it in my heart
I folded up its furry wings
And opened up its little heart
It might sound stupid
But something about it made me want to pull it apart
I ruin
Everything
As I sit in a field of grass
In the spring
Listening
To the beat of its little heart
And to its wings
Struggling
For air under an upturned glass
And I put a pin through its wing
And I bottle it up,
I box it up,
And bury it in my heart.
The Boy Least Likely To's song "I Box Up All the Butterflies" talks about the singer's obsession with capturing and preserving butterflies. The lyrics convey a sense of sadness and regret as the singer acknowledges that they are breaking promises they made to themselves and are ruining everything around them as they pursue this obsession. The lyrics suggest that the singer is aware of their actions but still chooses to go ahead with them, leading to the feeling of guilt and shame that they try to bury in their heart.
The song talks about the singer's struggle to relax in the summertime when the flowers are in bloom. Instead, they spend their time creeping around the countryside with a net and bait to catch butterflies. The lyrics also suggest that the singer is aware of their insecurities and is using their obsession with butterflies as a way to distract themselves from those insecurities. The singer's self-awareness of their actions highlights the complexity of human emotions and the internal battles that individuals often struggle with.
The use of metaphors in the lyrics adds to the depth of the song's meaning. The butterflies can be seen as a metaphor for the beauty and fragility of life. The singer's desire to capture and preserve them, therefore, represents their fear of losing something they perceive as valuable. However, the act of capturing and preserving the butterflies also results in their death or suffering, representing the paradox of humans' desire to hold on to things that they cannot control.
Line by Line Meaning
I find it difficult to
I struggle to
Relax in the summertime
enjoy the summer season
With all the flowers in bloom
due to the abundance of flowers
I creep across the countryside
I move quietly in the rural area
With my net and my bait
I carry my hunting equipment
And a pocketful of bailer twine
and some rope
I break the promises I made
I betray my own word
As I box up all the butterflies
by capturing and killing butterflies
I ruin
I destroy
Everything
all things
As I sit in a field of grass
when I am in a grassy area
In the spring
during the spring season
Listening
hearing
To the beat of its little heart
the sound of the butterfly's heart
And to its wings
and its wings flapping
Struggling
fighting
For air under an upturned glass
for air under a glass jar
And I put a pin
I stab it with a pin
Through its wings
through its delicate wings
And I bottle it up,
I trap it in a bottle,
I box it up,
put it in a box,
And bury it in my heart
and keep the memory of the act in my heart
Just as I know my friends
Like I know my friends
I also know my enemies
I am aware of my enemies
Are the birds and the bees
those that I hunt like birds and bees
And my own little insecurities
as well as my personal vulnerabilities
I creep around in the dark
I move quietly at night
And I tear up all the dandelions
I destroy the dandelions
And I break my own heart
I cause myself pain and sadness
As I box up all the butterflies
by capturing and killing butterflies
Tirelessly,
without end,
Following
tracking
Its tiny butterfly tracks
the trail left by the butterfly
Across the field in the spring
through the grassy area during spring
With a plastic carrier bag
carrying a plastic bag
Full of fish,
with live bait,
Hooks, and string
and fishing equipment
I lay a little matchbox trap
I set a trap using a matchbox
And I put pin
stab the butterfly
Through its wings
the thin, delicate membranes that allow it to fly
And I bottle it up,
trap it in a bottle,
I box it up
put it in a box,
And bury it in my heart
and keep the memory of the act in my heart
I folded up its furry wings
I tidy up its fluffy wings
And opened up its little heart
and look at its heart
It might sound stupid
It may seem foolish
But something about it made me want to pull it apart
but there is something about this experience that compels me to continue killing butterflies
And I ruin
I destroy
Everything
all things
As I sit in a field of grass
when I am in a grassy area
In the spring
during the spring season
Listening
hearing
To the beat of its little heart
the sound of the butterfly's heart
And to its wings
and its wings flapping
Struggling
fighting
For air under an upturned glass
for air under a glass jar
And I put a pin through its wing
and I stab the butterfly's wing with a pin
And I bottle it up,
trap it in a bottle,
I box it up,
put it in a box,
And bury it in my heart.
and keep the memory of the act in my heart
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JONTHAN OWEN, PETER HOBBS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind