Nancy Boy is also a nickname/slur for effeminate homosexual men

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

 and the name of an early 1990s band led by Donovan Leitch

"Nancy Boy" is a song by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Placebo

Placebo (band)

Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...

, released as the third single from their self-titled debut album

Placebo (album)

Placebo is the self-titled debut studio album by British alternative rock band Placebo, released on the Hut Records label on 16 July 1996.-Reception:In 1998, Q magazine readers voted it the 87th greatest album of all time...

. It was released on January 20, 1997 and became their breakthrough single, reaching #4 in the UK charts and making them known to mainstream audiences. As with their first single "Come Home

Come Home (Placebo song)

"Come Home" was the second single by alternative rock band Placebo. This is a different version of the lead track from the eponymous debut album. It reached #103 in the UK Singles Chart, and it was available on CD and 7" record. "Oxygen Thief" appears on no other releases.-Single information:It...

", the single/radio edit (a.k.a. the 'Sex mix') is a rerecorded version, noticeably different from the album version. It was later released on the compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 Once More with Feeling.

Live performance history

The song was part of the band's repertoire prior to the release of their debut album and it was a regular until the Black Market Music

Black Market Music

Black Market Music is the third studio album by British alternative rock band Placebo, released in 2000 by Hut Records.- Background :Black Market Music took nine months to record, the longest that the band have ever spent recording an album to date, and is dedicated to the memory of Scott...

tour. Due to the band's ambivalent relationship with the song, it's had a somewhat varied history since. The song returned to the setlist during festival performances in the latter legs of the Sleeping with Ghosts

Sleeping with Ghosts

Sleeping with Ghosts is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Placebo, released in 2003 through Astralwerks and Hut Records...

tour and was performed until the early legs of the Meds

Meds

Meds is the fifth studio album by British alternative rock band Placebo, released in 2006 on Virgin Records. It was released in most countries on 13 March 2006, although it was released three days earlier in Australia and New Zealand...

tour. After several performances during the band's stint on the 2007 Projekt Revolution

Projekt Revolution

Projekt Revolution is a music festival hosted by Linkin Park, bringing artists of various genres of music together. Linkin Park started Projekt Revolution in the year 2002 with just one stage...

 tour, it was not performed again until 2010, when the song was used as the opener for the EXIT festival in Serbia. After that it became a regular opener for the rest of the Battle for the Sun

Battle for the Sun

Battle for the Sun is the sixth studio album by British alternative rock band Placebo, released in 2009 on Solitary Man Records, Vagrant Records, Universal Records, and PIAS Recordings.-Production and recording:...

tour, in the latter part of 2010.

Track listings

CD1

1. "Nancy Boy" (radio edit)
2. "Slackerbitch"
3. "Bigmouth Strikes Again
   Bigmouth Strikes Again
   "Bigmouth Strikes Again" is a song by The Smiths. It appears on their third album The Queen Is Dead and was the lead single from the album, reaching #26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1986...
   
   "
4. "Hug Bubble" (Brad Wood mix)

CD2

1. "Nancy Boy" (Sex mix)
2. "Eyesight to the Blind"
3. "Swallow" (Desiner/U-Sheen mix)
4. "Miss Moneypenny"

7"

1. "Nancy Boy" (Sex mix)
2. "Slackerbitch"

Music video

In the video for "Nancy Boy", the images of the band members are in parts distorted, especially drummer Steve Hewitt

Steve Hewitt

Steven James Hewitt is the singer and guitarist in Love Amongst Ruin, having previously been the drummer for Placebo between mid-1996 and October 2007.-Personal life:...

 who is portrayed throughout with a blurred face because he was still contractually obligated to another band on a different label There are also cutaway scenes to strange objects in the video, such as a fist with legs and a bathtub full of legs. It was shot by Howard Greenhalgh.

Charts

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	4
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	4