Championed by NME, the band's first single What a Waster charted at number 37, despite being banned from Radio 1 and commercial radio due to an overabundance of foul language; this set the trend for steadily increasing returns, culminating in a #2 single and #1 album in the UK Charts. However, the band's music was often eclipsed by its internal conflicts, many of which stemmed from Doherty's considerable drug use, and it was mostly because of this that after a final show in Paris (without Pete) that the band was disbanded at the end of 2004.
The former members of The Libertines have gone on to form three splinter bands, with varying degrees of commercial and critical success. These bands include Peter Doherty in Babyshambles, Carl Barât and Gary Powell in Dirty Pretty Things and John Hassall in Yeti.
Pete and Carl recently came back to work on Babyshambles' charity cover of The Clash's 'Janie Jones' for Strummerville. Carl and Pete also performed 13 songs together in April 2007 as Carl appeared on stage at one of Pete's shows. On the 29th of March 2010 the Libertines announced they had reunited to play the Leeds and Reading festivals in August.
On 20 April 2014 an image of London's Hyde Park was released to the band's Facebook page. Around this time both Carl Barat and Peter Doherty indicated in interviews that they had accepted an offer to play the venue on July 5, 2014. On 25 April, it was confirmed that The Libertines will play on Saturday 5 July in London's Hyde Park, headlining the day, as part of the Barclaycard British Summer Time series of concerts. Support for the concert will be provided by a number of bands and artists, most notably The Pogues, Spiritualized, Maxïmo Park, Raglans and The Enemy
On 20 May, it was confirmed that The Libertines will play on Saturday 19 July in Benicassim FIB, Spain, as headliners.
They have also announced a European tour, their first tour in 10 years, consisting of 9 dates prior to the release of a new album in 2015, 11 years after their previous studio release.
The band's reunion album was followed by a series of festival appearances, including a surprise gig during the 2015 Glastonbury Festival, as they were secretly called to replace Florence + the Machine (who were earlier announced as unscheduled headliners after Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl's injury prevented the latters from headlining the day). The Libertines were filmed as they landed down off an helicopter outside the festival site, and stated their show with a hit from their 2nd album, Can't Stand Me Now.
On the 13th of October 2023 the band released their first single in eight years, as well as announcing that their new album All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade will be arriving on March 8, 2024.[40] To celebrate the announcement of the new album the band announced "The Albionay Tour". An intimate club tour that sold out in seconds. [41]
Likely Lads
The Libertines Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
See I forgive you with a song
We'll call the Likely Lads
But if it's left to you
I know exactly what you'd do
With all the dreams we had
'Cause blood runs thicker, oh
If it's important to you
It's important to me
I tried to make you see
But you don't wanna know
But you don't want to know
If you pipe all summer long
Then get forgiven in a song
Well, that's a touch, my lad
They sold them rights to all my wrongs
And when they needed the new songs
It's "welcome back", how sad
'Cause blood runs thicker, oh
We're thick as thieves, you know
If that's important to you
It's important to me
I tried to make you see
But you don't wanna know
You don't want to know
Oh, what became of the Likely Lads?
What became of the dreams we had?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
But, we'll never know
Please don't get me wrong
See I forgive you in a song
We call the Likely Lads
We all bought the ones
We taught 'em all we wrote the songs
That's filled with dreams we have
But blood runs thicker, oh
We're thick as thieves, you know
If that's important to you
It's important to me
I tried to make you see
But you don't wanna know
But you don't want to know
Oh, what became of the Likely Lads?
What became of the dreams we had?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
We'll never know
But blood runs thicker, oh
We're thick as thieves, you know
If that's important to you
Yes, it's important to me
I tried to make you see
But you don't wanna know
But you don't want to know
Oh, what became of the Likely Lads?
What became of the dreams we had?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
We'll never know
The ideal girl
In London from France
Came over, then left me
She left me entranced
Now I have to get by
Once again on my own
Nothing but memories
So I remember your eyes
In their dark shade of brown
While these blue eyes of mine
They stay closed
I kissed you goodbye on the M-109
I choked as I watched the bus go, oh-oh
Choking and smoking to your angelic soul
Choking and smoking myself into a hole
Where the only way out is to sleep and to dream
And to cry out your name
"What Became of the Likely Lads" is a song by The Libertines that deals with the theme of forgiveness and broken dreams. The song features a conversation between Pete Doherty and Carl Barât which is chosen as a reference to the TV series Likely Lads. The lyrics begin with Pete forgiving Carl for his past actions, saying that he does so with a song. The line "We'll call the Likely Lads" is a reference to the 1960s British sitcom The Likely Lads. Pete goes on to describe how Carl doesn't see the value in their dreams and may betray them.
Line by Line Meaning
Please don't get me wrong
I don't want to offend you
See I forgive you with a song
I forgive you and express my forgiveness through a song
We'll call the Likely Lads
We'll reunite with our old friends
But if it's left to you
But if it's up to you
I know exactly what you'd do
I know what you would do in this situation
With all the dreams we had
With all the hopes and aspirations we shared
'Cause blood runs thicker, oh
Our bond is strong
We're thick as thieves, you know
We are very close friends
If it's important to you
If it matters to you
It's important to me
It's important to me too
I tried to make you see
I tried to make you understand
But you don't wanna know
But you don't want to listen
If you pipe all summer long
If you play music all summer
Then get forgiven in a song
Then get forgiven through a song
Well, that's a touch, my lad
That's impressive or noteworthy, my friend
They sold them rights to all my wrongs
They made money from my mistakes
And when they needed the new songs
And when they needed new music
It's "welcome back", how sad
It's sad to see how easily they accepted us back
Oh, what became of the Likely Lads?
What happened to our old friends?
What became of the dreams we had?
What happened to our hopes and aspirations?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
What happened to our idea of eternity?
But, we'll never know
But we'll never find out
We all bought the ones
We all followed the same path
We taught 'em all we wrote the songs
We taught them what we know and wrote music together
That's filled with dreams we have
That's filled with our dreams and aspirations
The ideal girl
The perfect girl
In London from France
A girl from France who was in London
Came over, then left me
Came to see me, then left
She left me entranced
She left me mesmerized
Now I have to get by
Now I have to deal with this situation
Once again on my own
Once again, without anyone by my side
Nothing but memories
Only memories remain
So I remember your eyes
I recall your eyes
In their dark shade of brown
With their dark brown color
While these blue eyes of mine
While my blue eyes
They stay closed
Stay closed
I kissed you goodbye on the M-109
I said goodbye to you on the M-109
I choked as I watched the bus go, oh-oh
I cried as I watched the bus leave
Choking and smoking to your angelic soul
Choking and smoking, thinking of your angelic soul
Choking and smoking myself into a hole
Drowning in smoke and sadness
Where the only way out is to sleep and to dream
The only escape is through sleep and dreams
And to cry out your name
And to cry out your name in sorrow
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Carl Barat, Peter Doherty
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Khroxast
Please don't get me wrong
See I forgive you with a song
We'll call the Likely Lads
But if it's left to you
I know exactly what you'd do
With all the dreams we had
'Cause blood runs thicker, oh
We're thick as thieves, you know
If it's important to you
It's important to me
I tried to make you see
But you don't wanna know
But you don't want to know
If you pipe all summer long
Then get forgiven in a song
Well, that's a touch, my lad
They sold them rights to all my wrongs
And when they needed the new songs
It's "welcome back", how sad
'Cause blood runs thicker, oh
We're thick as thieves, you know
If that's important to you
It's important to me
I tried to make you see
But you don't wanna know
You don't want to know
Oh, what became of the Likely Lads?
What became of the dreams we had?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
But, we'll never know
Please don't get me wrong
See I forgive you in a song
We call the Likely Lads
We all bought the ones
We taught 'em all we wrote the songs
That's filled with dreams we have
But blood runs thicker, oh
We're thick as thieves, you know
If that's important to you
It's important to me
I tried to make you see
But you don't wanna know
But you don't want to know
Oh, what became of the Likely Lads?
What became of the dreams we had?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
We'll never know
But blood runs thicker, oh
We're thick as thieves, you know
If that's important to you
Yes, it's important to me
I tried to make you see
But you don't wanna know
But you don't want to know
Oh, what became of the Likely Lads?
What became of the dreams we had?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
Oh, what became of forever, though?
We'll never know
The ideal girl
In London from France
Came over, then left me
She left me entranced
Now I have to get by
Once again on my own
Nothing but memories
So I remember your eyes
In their dark shade of brown
While these blue eyes of mine
They stay closed
I kissed you goodbye on the M-109
I choked as I watched the bus go, oh-oh
Choking and smoking to your angelic soul
Choking and smoking myself into a hole
Where the only way out is to sleep and to dream
And to cry out your name
Mr C
My and my best mate lay in the park twenty years ago stoned and tried to imagine where we would be in the future. I miss that that excitement of knowing the future is upfor grabs when your a lad. This song encapsulates that
Jason
Imagination is the source of everything.
Roman plays.
The future is still yours to mould, my friend.
Picture it, and go fucking grab it. ❤👊
GanjaDan
Haha I've been there myself yet the reality of life never quite matches those dreams tho
Alan Johnston
It’s an all time classic
Lib 94
18 years ago today… Time flies. Still a banging tune.
WOT iop
❤
Eren Jäger
Brilliant musicians, its going to take some time to find another great artists like them love the UK and their music 🇬🇧, greets from Mexico! 🇲🇽
J B
I hear you. Not many out there with that Libertines magic. While they are not the Libs…there is this Swedish band that had some raw rocking bangers that I find myself going back to. Mando Diao. “Give Me Fire” album is a good starter.
Julián Alvarez
Such an underrated band.. Beautiful song.