Not to be confused with "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

"For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" is a song which is sung to congratulate a person on a significant event, such as, a promotion, a birthday, the birth of a child, or the winning of a championship sporting event. The melody originates from that of the French song "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre...

".

"For He's a Jolly Good Felon" is the third single from the album The Betrayed

The Betrayed

The Betrayed is the fourth studio album by the Welsh alternative rock band Lostprophets, released through Visible Noise and Sony Music Entertainment on 13 January 2010. Although the band initially wished to record a quick follow-up to 2006's Liberation Transmission, problems with labels and...

, the fourth album by Welsh 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 Lostprophets

Lostprophets

Lostprophets is a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997. Founded by vocalist Ian Watkins, bassist Mike Lewis, drummer Mike Chiplin and guitarist Lee Gaze, they were originally a side-project to hardcore punk band Public Disturbance. To date, Lostprophets have released four studio...

. According to the band's mailing list, the single is set to be released on 11 April 2010. The single's formats will include 7" vinyl (to be released on 12 April), a digital download, an iTunes single (including a live version of "Dirty Little Heart"), and a remix version by L'Amour La Morgue (Ian Watkins' side project). The cover for the single was posted to Dragonninja.com on 1 March 2010.

Frontman Ian Watkins

Ian Watkins

Ian Watkins may refer to:* Ian "H" Watkins , member of Steps* Ian Watkins , lead singer of Lostprophets* Ian Watkins , English radio presenter...

 admitted that the song, the music video and most of their current album The Betrayed are based on their upbringing. He told the Sun: "The song is about us growing up on council estates in Wales. The lyrics are about that way of life, I am not condoning it. We were good boys, it was just that our environment exposed us to anti-social behaviour. In this new album I have been very honest lyrically without a filter or producer. I have already covered areas like the conditioning of society and my anger towards it, so I suppose I just didn't want to repeat myself."

Track listing

Music video

The music video was released on 12 March 2010 to YouTube by Visible Noise

Visible Noise

Visible Noise is a British independent record label that focuses solely on British bands.-History:Founded in 1998 by ex-Cacophonous Records manager Julie Weir, the label was created with the goal of fostering and breaking new UK rock music...

 and follows the storyline of the song. Just like the previous video, "Where We Belong

Where We Belong

"Where We Belong" is the second single from the album The Betrayed, the fourth studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Lostprophets. It was released on 4 January 2010...

", it is filmed in greyscale.

Lostprophets also released a video showing the making of 'For He's a Jolly Good Felon'. This was available on Youtube on 24 March 2010.The band have also released a full-length cinematic version of the original music video. This included dialogue of the video and was released on 6 April. It also featured Alan Ford

Alan Ford (actor)

Alan Ford is an English actor. Ford was trained at East 15 Acting School. He is perhaps best known today for his roles in the Guy Ritchie crime capers Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, and guest starring in The Bill...

, known as the character Brick Top from the film Snatch

Snatch

Snatch may refer to:* Snatch , a 2000 British gangster movie by director Guy Ritchie* Snatch theft, grab-and-run theft from a motorcycle, in Malaysia* Snatch, an album by Howie B* Snatch , or Anagrams, word game...

.

Personnel

• Ian Watkins – lead vocals
• Lee Gaze – lead guitar
  Lead guitar
  Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
  
  
• Mike Lewis – rhythm guitar
  Rhythm guitar
  Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
  
  
• Stuart Richardson – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Jamie Oliver – synth, turntables, samples
  Sampling (music)
  In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
  
  , backing vocals
• Ilan Rubin
  Ilan Rubin
  Ilan Rubin is an American musician, best known for being former drummer of Lostprophets & industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails during their last tour...
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  

Chart performance

"For He's A Jolly Good Felon" first debuted on the UK Rock Chart

UK Rock Chart

The UK Rock Chart usually refers to the Top 40 Rock Singles and the Top 40 Rock Albums Chart compiled by the Official Charts Company from physical record sales in British retail outlets with larger than average genrespecific sales....

 on 4 April 2010, at #19. then on 11 April 2010, the single climbed 10 places to #9. On 18 April 2010, the single climbed a further 5 places to #4. The single also entered the UK Indie Chart

UK Indie Chart

The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...

 at #30. During the next week it climbed 21 places, charting at #9 on the same chart. The single however performed poorly in the 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 ...

entering at #99 - one of the bands' lowest-charting singles to date. This was in spite of a campaign by the band to get the single to #1. The low entry could be because no physical single was released, & the planned vinyl release never happened due to production problems.
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Chart (2009)	Peak position