Twentieth Century
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 2006
Original album - Fundamental
Producer - Trevor Horn
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - (none)
In an ingenious lyrical conceit, Neil—ever the student of history—looks back on the twentieth century as an era in which failed idealism resulted in terrible evils. "The lesson that I learned," he writes, "was this: Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem." This includes both the rise and fall of communism—first put into effective practice with the dawn of the century but which largely collapsed with its dusk:
Well, I bought a ticket for the revolution
And I cheered when the statues fell
Everyone came to destroy what was wicked
But they killed off what was good as well
For all of their noble goals and intentions, communism, capitalism, and other social, political, and/or economic systems have all too often resulted in horrors perpetrated in their names. Even the more obvious evils of fascism—another major twentieth-century political movement—were born out of perverse idealism. Indeed, you could say much the same about the toppling of such dictators as Saddam Hussein.
In short, revolution of any sort appears invariably "to kill all that was good" even as it "destroys what was wicked." This, Neil seems to say, is one of the great lessons of the twentieth century.
But the song's most interesting twist—the thing that indeed makes it ingenious—is what Neil chooses to do with this observation. As he does so often on Fundamental (indeed, what might be considered a thematic motif), he takes the wider social and political situation and applies it at a much more personal level. "Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem—let's stay together." When lovers have trouble getting along together, breaking up may seem the logical solution. But that solution may prove worse than the problem. They may be even more miserable apart than they were together. In short, the "solution" may not be a solution at all.
Annotations
- "Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem" – This concept and phrasing is, of course, not original with the Pet Shop Boys. The phrase "the solution is worse than the problem" has been documented at least as far back as the 1930s, and is probably much older. In fact, another way to express the exact same idea—when "the cure is worse than the disease"—can be traced as far back as 1810 and, again, almost certainly predates that year as well.
- "I cheered when the statues fell" – Totalitarian rulers are fond of erecting statues of themselves, which are almost invariably torn down when their regimes come to an end. Neil may be describing several such incidents he may have witnessed (thanks to CNN and other such international news outlets), such as with the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European puppet states or, more immediately, the destruction of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq shortly after its 2003 invasion by U.S. and U.K. forces (with assistance from several other nations). A giant iron statue of Hussein was toppled a few days after the capture of Baghdad on April 9, 2003. Photos and videos of this event were broadcast around the world. Neil is known for having initially (and perhaps surprisingly) supported the U.S.-U.K. invasion of Iraq (thus explaining his "I cheered…" lyric, if any explanation were needed) although his support subsequently waned with the prolonging of the war and occupation. In this respect Neil's attitudes have essentially paralleled those of most citizens of the United States and Britain. Of course, all of this assumes that the narrative persona of the song can be interpreted as Neil himself, which may not actually be the case. On the other hand, it's probably very safe to say that, if that narrative persona isn't really Neil, it's almost certainly someone very much like him.
Mixes/Versions
Officially released
- Mixer: Tim Weidner
- Album version (4:39)
Official but unreleased
- Mixer: Tim Weidner
- Instrumental version (4:39)
List cross-references
- PSB songs with "Russian connections"
- The key signatures of selected PSB songs
- PSB songs that they themselves apparently dislike
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