DJ Culture
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1991
Original album - Discography
Subsequent albums - PopArt, Behaviour 2001 reissue Further Listening 1990-1991 bonus disc
Other releases - single (UK #13)
Pet Shop Boys lyrics tend to be relatively straightforward. This is about as obscurantist as they get (or maybe second only to "Don Juan"). If it weren't for the fact that they've been quite forthright as to what this track is about, it would be rather difficult to discern it. In short, it's a censure of the militaristic, pro-war sentiments that sprang up in Britain and America during the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq. At least, that's part of what it's about. There also seems to be a good deal of commentary about people who refuse to accept themselves as they are, even going so far as to change their personal appearance. (After noting how some people "re-invent themselves," Neil sings, "Like Liz before Betty, she after Sean," which refers to Elizabeth Taylor after her stay at the Betty Ford Clinic and to Madonna after her marriage to Sean Penn.) All of this, they seem to say, is indicative of an escapist society in which people, "living in a satellite fantasy," allow the mass media to tell them what to think, feel, and believe, as well as how to act.
Neil has noted, "The essence of the song is in the first place insincerity—about George Bush who acted like he was Winston Churchill. He referred to World War II and, as a matter of fact, he sampled things Churchill said, just like artists do with records from the past. That is why it is called 'DJ Culture'." In the video, the line "My lord, may I say nothing?" is spoken by Neil in the role of Oscar Wilde—an independent thinker persecuted by the state for not conforming, which is very much in keeping with the song's overall cultural critique.
The highlight of the song, at least in this writer's opinion, is the breathtakingly beautiful bridge or "middle eight," sung by Neil with a rich backwash of synth strings playing a repeated series of descending chords. The music assumes a simultaneously epic and tragic quality as the lyrics underscore the hypocrisy of mass self-indulgence:
Now, as a matter of pride
Indulge yourself—your every mood
No feast-days or fast-days or days of abstinence intrude
Why let anything—war and religion included—interfere with personal pleasure? Heaven forbid sacrifice. Our musical heroes seem to be suggesting that we are all too willing accomplices in our own deception. It's hard to think of another more scathing social indictment in the Pet Shop Boys' entire body of work.
Annotations
- As noted above, this song was largely inspired by the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq.
- "And I, my lord—may I say nothing?" – A paraphrase of the words spoken by Oscar Wilde immediately after he was sentenced in 1895 to two years of hard labor for homosexual offenses: "And I? May I say nothing, my lord?"
- "Like Liz after Betty" – In other words, like Elizabeth Taylor after her stay at the Betty Ford Center (popularly known as the "Betty Ford Clinic") in Rancho Mirage, California. The famed British-American actress checked herself in twice (in 1983 and 1988) for treatment for alcoholism and prescription drug addiction.
- "She after Sean" – That is, like Madonna after Sean Penn. Singer Madonna was married to actor Sean Penn from 1985 to 1989. It proved a tumultuous marriage; Penn was at one point charged with felony domestic assault, although it was pleaded down to a misdemeanor. Madonna has accepted her share of the blame for the failure of the marriage as well, conceding that she was "completely obsessed" with her career at the time and not ready to be as "generous" in the relationship as she should have been. She emerged from the experience, however, with one of her finest albums, 1989's critically acclaimed Like a Prayer, which she considered her "coming of age record."
- The French-speaking voice ("Attention…" and "trente-neuf…," among a few other words) heard at the beginning of the song (and perhaps again, much more subtly, toward the end) seems to have been sampled from a few scattered scenes in director Jean Cocteau's famed 1950 film Orpheus. As to why these words may have been sampled from this particular film is uncertain. It may be a reflection of the song's commentary on "cultural sampling" for political ends and/or it may involve the theme of "living in a fantasy" considering certain fantastical elements of the film's plot. On the other hand, maybe the Boys just liked the sound of it.
Mixes
Officially released
- Mixer: Stephen Hague
- 7" Mix (4:26)
- Available on the Further Listening bonus disc with the Behaviour reissue
- "Short Version" (4:12)
- Available on Discography and PopArt
- 7" Mix (4:26)
- Mixer: Brothers in Rhythm
- Extended Mix (6:53)
- Available on the Further Listening bonus disc with the Behaviour reissue
- Extended Mix (6:53)
- Mixer: The Grid
- DJ Culturemix (5:49)
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