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Miracles

Writers - Tennant/Lowe/Fenton/Stein
First released - 2003
Original album - PopArt
Producer - Adam F, Dan "Fresh" Stein
Subsequent albums - Ultimate, Release 2017 reissue Further Listening 2001-2004 bonus disc, Smash
Other releases - single (UK #10, US Dance #1)

With this song, Neil and Chris—along with their collaborators, "drum and bass" producers Adam F (Adam Fenton) and Dan Fresh (Dan Stein, aka "DJ Fresh")—have written one of the most outrageous variations on the so-called "pathetic fallacy" in the body of popular music. ("Pathetic fallacy" is a literary term that refers to the attribution of human feelings and/or motivations to non-humans, especially the non-living attributes of nature: a happy sun, an angry sea.) The narrator describes how "clouds drift away when they see you," "rain wouldn't dare to fall near you," and other such "miracles" occur in the presence of the one he loves. Of course, such miraculous events don't really happen in his presence; they only seem to in the eyes of the besotted lover. It's virtually a definition of "limerence": the sense of tremendous exhilaration that one feels in the early stages of love. The external world doesn't actually change at all, but rather the narrator's internal perception of the world now that he shares it with his beloved. Such is the transformative power of love: as Neil sings, "It's a new day."

(Incidentally, there's been a rumor that the inspiration for this song was the suicide death of the lover of one of Neil's friends. Neil, however, has specifically denied this.)

"Miracles" is one of the loveliest songs in the PSB corpus, though Neil and Chris have credited Adam F with the lion's share of the music. It opens slowly, gently, with gorgeous orchestration—courtesy former Art of Noise maven Anne Dudley—and then picks up with a steady synth undercurrent. (To be honest, it bears a strong structural resemblance to Madonna's "Frozen." Neil has pointedly denied any direct influence, but I would add that being influenced by something often has little to do with one's conscious thoughts or intentions.) The melody is every bit as pretty as you'd expect from such an intense love song, although its wealth of minor chords gives it a pervasive air of melancholy, as if the narrator were aware, at least subconsciously, of the illusory nature of his current view of the world. It's this tension—the implicit tug-of-war between limerence and reality—that gives this song much of its power.

Annotations

"The scent of the jasmine is stronger" – These words echo a very similar line in Stephen Sondheim's acclaimed 1973 musical A Little Night Music. Near the beginning, Madame Armfeldt is telling her granddaughter Fredrika how to recognize love when it happens—or, as she more cryptically and poetically puts it, how she should watch "for the night to smile." Among the things she tells the girl to look for is "Suddenly the jasmine starts to smell stronger." Probably only Neil, however—an avowed Sondheim fan—can say for sure whether this is an intentional echo, a subconscious one, or mere coincidence.
"Lightening [sic] daren't strike" – A simple but interesting line on two counts. First of all, the Pet Shop Boys' official website does spell it "lightening," with an e. At first I thought this might be another one of those British vs. American English spelling variations (like "behaviour" vs. "behavior"), but that doesn't seem to be the case. As best I can tell, "lightning" (without the e) is the preferred spelling in both Britain and the United States. So it may simply be a typographical error. But, then again, consider a second point: the very next word, "daren't," a contraction of "dare not." While by no means unheard of, you have to admit that it's rather arcane. It sounds terribly old-fashioned. Indeed, I'd be hard-pressed to think of another modern pop song that includes "daren't" in its lyrics. And, as it turns out, "lightening" (with the e) is actually a much older spelling of the modern word "lightning," though now considered antiquated. So is Neil consciously aiming for an antiquated, perhaps "elevated" effect with such a line, in keeping with the somewhat mythic concept of miracles? After all, the song deals with silenced thunder, dogs that refuse to bite, and roses that bloom upon approach. All very miraculous and other-worldly, and language like "lightening daren't strike" contributes to that atmosphere. In fact, the entire song seems mannered—which, I suspect, is precisely Neil's intention. Ah, but there I go with considerations of intentionality, risking the intentional fallacy. And maybe I'm over-analyzing. On the other hand, Neil has said that the lyrics for this song were influenced by his having recently read a book of verse by Elizabethan metaphysical poets, so perhaps some of their more archaic language rubbed off on him. Whatever the case—analysis (and lightning strikes) aside—it still strikes me as an extremely interesting line.

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

Mixer: Stuart Cricthton and Pete Craigie
- Album/single version (3:57)
  - Also on one of the "Further Listening" bonus discs accompanying the 2017 Release reissue
- Extended Mix (5:46)
Mixer: Lemon Jelly
- Lemon Jelly Mix (6:19)
Mixer: Eric Prydz
- Eric Prydz Mix (7:29)

List cross-references

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