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That's My Impression

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1986
Original album - Alternative
Producer - Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - Please 2001 reissue Further Listening 1984-1986 bonus disc
Other releases - b-side of single "Love Comes Quickly" (and making the US Dance chart at #10 in its own right as one-half of a double-sided dance hit)

Neil adopts the role of someone who goes out on the town in search of his straying lover. Among the "impressions" that he gets during the course of the evening is just how much of a lying cheat his lover is and how their relationship is doomed. The "Serpentine" referred to in the lyrics is a famous man-made lake in London's Hyde Park, located apparently not too far from where Neil and Chris were staying when they wrote this song.

According to the Boys, this was their first self-produced recording. Although they had recorded it at least twice before—first as a rough demo at Ray Roberts's studio and then again with Bobby 'O' Orlando—the final, released version was one that they recorded on their own during the Please sessions while that album's producer, Stephen Hague, was otherwise preoccupied.

A curious feature of this track is that both its "7-inch" and "Disco Mix" versions include applause and crowd noise at the end. Since there's no indication whatsoever that it was recorded "live" before an audience, these sounds must have been dubbed in. But why? Is it to make its somewhat rough sound more palatable, as if it really were recorded live?

Annotations

• "Staring at faces by the Serpentine" – As noted above, the Serpentine is a constructed lake in London's Hyde Park. Not surprisingly, its name comes from its long, winding, snake-like shape. A similarly winding paved walking path along its banks is popular among Londoners seeking recreation and exercise. As one of my site visitors has pointed out, Neil may have chosen to refer to it because the song deals with a deceitful lover. Serpents are, after all, ancient symbols of deceitfulness, as in the biblical Garden of Eden's serpent and the familiar phrase "lying snake." Then again, perhaps it was simply the setting for an actual occurrence in Neil's life, which could have inspired this song. Of course, the two possibilities aren't mutually exclusive.
  
  
• "I went for shelter to the temple" – Possibly a reference to Queen Caroline's Temple, one of the landmark memorials located along the Serpentine. Queen Caroline was the wife of Britain's King George II. Instrumental in the development of Hyde Park, he ordered in 1730 the damming of the Westbourne River, which resulted in the formation of the Serpentine. She also ordered the construction of a summerhouse amidst the nearby gardens, which eventually became known as her "temple."

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

• Mixer: Pet Shop Boys
  • 7" Version (4:45)
    • Available on Essential
  • Disco Mix (5:18)
    • Available on Alternative and the Further Listening bonus disc with the Please reissue
  • Demo (4:16)
    • Promo only

Official but unreleased

• Mixer: unknown
  • Extended Mix (5:56)

List cross-references

• The key signatures of selected PSB songs
• Real places mentioned by name in PSB songs
• The early tracks that the Pet Shop Boys recorded with Ray Roberts and Bobby 'O'
• PSB songs that have been used in "non-musical" films and TV shows
• What it's about: Neil's succinct statements on what a song is "about"

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