Nervously
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1990
Original album - Behaviour
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - (none)
Neil has noted that he and Chris were writing songs for Behaviour at around the same time that he (Neil) was experiencing his first "serious" love affair. Many of the album's songs reflect this fact, though perhaps none so clearly as "Nervously." On the other hand, it wasn't actually written at the same time as the other tracks on the album. Rather, Neil reportedly wrote it—or at least a preliminary version of it—in 1981, even before there was a "Pet Shop Boys." But it may have been Neil's recent romantic experience that inspired him to pull it from the vaults, so to speak, and to perfect it with Chris.
There's no mystery as to what this song is about. It simply describes in a very gentle, touching manner the nervous anxiety, uncertainty, and anticipation experienced by anyone meeting someone they find attractive and subsequently falling in love. The musical backdrop is particularly effective, with a mildly "jittery" feel that mirrors the narrator's own "jitters," gradually building in intensity as the lyrics simultaneously describe the growing intensity of the narrator's feelings. An underrated yet masterful performance.
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