Difference between 僕等 and 僕ら?

Question

It’s in an amazarashi song. When he sings, he says 僕ら but if when I look at the lyrics it says 僕等. Is there a difference in these?

Answer 1

ら is one of the kun-readings of 等, so there is no difference. The kanji 等 has several readings.

• ら: (attaches to person pronouns and person names) -s, and colleagues/friends, et al

  彼等【かれら】, 君等【きみら】, 私等【わたしら】, 研究者等【けんきゅうしゃら】, 田中等【たなから】

• など, とう: (attaches to other types of noun) and so on, and similar, et cetra

  自動車等【じどうしゃとう】, 研究等【けんきゅうとう】

  See: Inaccurate ruby for 等?

This is admittedly confusing, and this is why -ら is usually written in hiragana (彼ら, 田中ら, ...). Still, you may occasionally encounter -ら in kanji.