Why is 野良 read as ぼく in this song?


I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link to the song but the title is 『この街に晴れはこない』
by 美波

Lyrics:

> 同じ温度を探すよ
>
> 結局のところ
>
> 野良{ぼく}たちどこにもいられないや

After doing a bit of research it seems to be an 当て字 reading which can either
mean a field or a stray and it seems to be the latter in this case. The part
that confuses me is that it's read as「のら」. Is this a literary thing where the
writer chose to use certain kanji just to specify the meaning?

