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Miserablism

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1990
Original album - Alternative
Producer - Harold Faltermeyer, Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - Behaviour 2001 reissue Further Listening 1990-1991 bonus disc
Other releases - bonus track on a special Japanese edition of Behaviour; b-side of single "Was It Worth It?"

In a song that he says was written from the apparent viewpoint of the public persona of former Smiths lead singer and subsequent solo artist Morrissey, Neil reveals here how little patience he has for young people who adopt a self-consciously, perpetually pessimistic or gloomy pose as a fashion or even a lifestyle. He mercilessly lambastes it for being the pretentious, escapist cop-out nonsense that it is, using the term "miserablism" to describe it. In fact, he maintains that it's more than mere nonsense—it's destructively self-fulfilling nonsense. As the vocoderized voice in the background repeats, "That's what you want, that's what you get."

Instrumentally, this track is notable for its dense analog (as opposed to digital) synthesizer backdrop, which the Boys created with the help of German keyboardist/producer Harold Faltermeyer, best known for his 1985 hit instrumental "Axel F." Faltermeyer apparently felt that "Miserablism" should have been included on Behaviour—it was, in fact, part of the album's track lineup until quite late in the process—and should even have been one of the album's singles. But Chris reportedly vetoed its final inclusion on the album, believing that it didn't fit in well with the mood of the other songs.

Annotations

• Although I state above that Alternative was the "original album" on which "Miserablism" appeared, that's actually not entirely accurate. That's only the first album on which it was generally available worldwide. Its very first release anywhere—even before it served as a b-side for the single "Was It Worth It?"—was as a bonus track on a rather obscure special Japanese edition of Behaviour.
  
  
• As stated above, this song was at least partly inspired by the "miserable" public persona of former Smiths lead singer and later solo artist Stephen Morrissey (who of course goes professionally by just his last name).
  
  
• Contrary to widespread belief, the Pet Shop Boys did not coin the term "miserablism." Its usage dates back well over a hundred years, at least as far back as 1878. To be sure, it has never been a commonplace word, and the Boys may indeed have instigated its more recent use by various writers. But it's definitely not original with PSB. As for its meaning, at least one dictionary defines "miserablism" as "the quality of seeming to enjoy being depressed."
  
  
• Neil has said that the words of the song's chorus were inspired by someone who told him of asking "their father on his deathbed what it was like, and he said: 'is is, isn't isn't.'" Neil added, "I thought that was a great quote, and a very kind of miserablist way of looking at the world. There's no romance—the only thing that exists is what really exists." But Neil then speculates in the song's bridge how different—how "not miserable"—things might be if that were flipped around:

  But if 'is' wasn't and 'isn't' were
  You can't be sure, but you might find ecstasy
  

• This track contains a brief sample from the Twelfth Symphony of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) during the middle instrumental break. Neil has said, perhaps a bit facetiously, that he was in his "Shostakovich phase" at the time.

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

• Mixer: Julian Mendelsohn
  • 7" mix (4:10)
    • Available on Alternative and on the Further Listening bonus disc with the Behaviour reissue
• Mixer: Moby
  • Electro Mix (5:38)
    • Available on the "Was it Worth It?" CD single and on the bonus third disc ("Mix") with the "Special Edition" of PopArt

List cross-references

• Other songs in which Chris's voice can be heard
• PSB songs based on classical compositions (and some others with "classical connections")
• The key signatures of selected PSB songs
• PSB songs with "Russian connections"
• PSB tracks that contain samples of other artists' music
• PSB "singles" that weren't
  
  

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