Very (1993)

After the summation of Discography, a lot of people thought it was all over for PSB. And then came the stunning Very. If Behaviour is the Pet Shop Boys' "downer" album, then Very is their "up" album, characterized by insistent Eurodisco beats and treble timbre. Neil and Chris have acknowledged this contrast, stating that they had "decided to do a mega dance-pop album." It was also the first of their albums in which they themselves served as the main producers. Neil noted that he wrote many of the album's lyrics while being in the full flush of love, which explains the heady, almost love-happy mood of such songs as "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing" and "Liberation." The result is a brilliant album of breathtaking beauty, variety, and excitement, cited by many critics at the time as one of the best of 1993 and, in the years since, as the pinnacle (so far) of the Boys’ career. The public similarly recognized its quality: it proved to be the Boys' first (and only) U.K #1 album, while in the U.S. it became their second-highest-charting album ever. Very is also noteworthy for its highly innovative (and now discontinued) "orange Lego™" CD jewel box, which won a major design award and is featured in an exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art. As for the album title, Neil and Chris settled on it simply because they thought the collection sounded "very Pet Shop Boys." (album: UK #1, US #20)

Can You Forgive Her?

Set to one of the Boys' most over-the-top arrangements since "It's a Sin," Tennant tells the poignant, almost comically pathetic story of a young man who refuses to accept his own gayness. He's persistently tormented by his girlfriend, who's aware of his insecurities and uses them against him to get him to behave according to her wishes. Neil insists that it's not autobiographical—thankfully, since he manages to evoke an almost palpable sense of self-loathing in the central character.

As he has done on more than one occasion (see "Up Against It"), Neil borrowed the song's title, but not its subject matter, from a literary work, in this case a Victorian novel by Anthony Trollope. Chris wrote the music in 6/8 time. As Neil puts it, this time-signature, which is unusual for them, "makes it sound sneaky." (single: UK #7, US Dance #1)

I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing

A short, simple, yet highly melodic piano-driven song that celebrates the exhilaration one feels at falling deeply in love, maybe for the first time. It's also superbly structured with its parallel verses, each prompting the listener to ask a question, which the narrator is then pleased to answer. Succinct, with not a moment wasted, the original Very album version is an absolute gem.

Actually, the song's genesis has nothing to do with being in love. Neil was embarking on a day trip from London to Edinburgh, and on his way via taxi to Heathrow Airport he thought to himself, "I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing"—that is, fly from one place to another and back in a single day. He couldn't get the phrase out of his head, and it soon evolved into a song. He and Chris created the demo for it in the studio the very next day.

Some early critics commented on the song's almost Beatlesque quality, which may have inspired what subsequently happened to it for the single version and its video. Remixed and extended by the Beatmasters, the instrumentation is fleshed out significantly, nearly becoming "busy" in the process. Prominent in the mix, especially toward the end, are backwards percussion effects, droning Indian tamburas, and a piccolo trumpet, all strongly reminiscent of circa-1967 Beatles (think "Penny Lane"). In some mixes it even has a "false ending"—a trick of which the Beatles were fond (as in "Hello, Goodbye" and "Strawberry Fields Forever," among others), in which the song seems to end but then unexpectedly resumes for another go-round.

The video plays on this as well, with Neil and Chris, wearing mop-top wigs, cavorting (and doing various things they wouldn't normally do, such as fighting each other with baseball bats) amidst computerized psychedelia and a pair of futuristic go-go dancers. It's almost as if they're suggesting that this is what Lennon and McCartney (as well as the 1960s in general) might have been like if that decade had been blessed with nineties technology. As Neil himself said in an interview around the time Very was released, "I'm sure if The Beatles had formed in 1983, they would've been a duo. John and Paul would be using synths and drum machines instead of George and Ringo." Fascinating concept, brilliant execution, and a terrific single, one of the high points of the Pet Shop Boys' career. (single: UK #13, US Dance #2)

Liberation

Continuing on the apparent theme of newly discovered love established by the preceding song, "Liberation" finds Neil adopting the role of an ex-cynic who suddenly discovers the joy of love after a lifetime of dismissing it. Though he had always feared that falling in love would be constricting, he has found, on the contrary, that love has given him a sense of freedom he's never felt before. In short, the lover who has fallen asleep on his shoulder, far from weighing him down, has instead liberated him.

This track—the fourth single from the album—is essentially an extended pun in which the word "liberation" refers both to this individual sense of freedom and to "gay liberation," in which feelings and acts of love are themselves revolutionary statements of personal and social liberty. All that, plus one of the most beautiful melodies and arrangements in the PSB canon, results in one of the great moments in the Boys' career. In a September 1996 interview with Andrew Sullivan, Neil stated that the part about someone falling asleep on his shoulder during a long, late car ride is true. More recently he has denied this, though he has always conceded that this song is based on a relationship he was in when he wrote it. (single: UK #14)

A Different Point of View

The narrator's relationship with his lover has deteriorated to the point that they can hardly agree about anything—they now seem to argue simply for the sake of arguing. No matter how hard the protagonist tries to patch things up, even bending over backwards to accommodate his lover's apparently contrary ways ("If I said black was white, you'd say it was gray!"), he fails. So, with devastating understatement, he shrugs his shoulders and says, "You've got a different point of view." In short, he's trying his best to dismiss their disagreements and salvage what he can of their relationship. One can't help but feel that this strategy, too, is doomed to failure.

Although it's almost always tempting to side with the narrator, who takes the role of protagonist in a song like this, we shouldn't be hasty to take sides. As one of my site visitors has rightly pointed out, the very line that I quote above—"If I said black was white, you'd say it was gray!"—could be interpreted not as an attempt by the narrator to be accommodating, but rather as his being totally unreasonable. After all, black isn't white! And his lover's imagined suggestion of gray may not be mere contrariness but instead an attempt to reach compromise. As Neil does time and time again in his lyrics (such as in the case of "Jealousy"), the "protagonist" may be equal parts antagonist. It does take two to argue.

At any rate, despite the song's downbeat theme, the music is anything but depressing. In fact, this stylistically exuberant track was at one time seriously considered as a candidate for single release, but somebody (probably Neil and Chris themselves) decided against it. In truth, Chris has said that he never particularly liked this song himself.

Dreaming of the Queen

Inspired in part by Brian Masters' 1972 book Dreams About HM the Queen and other Members of the Royal Family, this song has been described by Neil as his variation on what is apparently a fairly common English anxiety dream: meeting the Queen under less than ideal circumstances, such as wearing nothing but your underwear. In this case, he's naked. But there's much more to "Dreaming of the Queen" than an unpleasant if mildly comic dream. Rather, it's an extremely dense, haunting track overshadowed by AIDS, filled with images of illness, lost love, and death.

The dream has four main characters: the narrator, his lover (who is now dead), Princess Diana (who was very much alive at the time this song was recorded, but whose marital problems were all too well known), and the Queen herself. When Di (her nickname perhaps serving as a pun on the word "die") sadly states from personal experience, "There are no more lovers left alive," it sends the narrator into his own reverie in which he notes how true this is since "it's happened to me and you" (his lover). When the narrator finally wakes up from this disturbing dream "in a sweat" (an image that parallels the night sweats that are a common symptom of AIDS) and "desolate," he reiterates the fact that "there are no more lovers left alive"—despite the dream having come to an end. It seems clear that the narrator has already lost his lover, probably because of AIDS, and that he himself is now personally coping with the disease. (As a perhaps significant sidenote, Neil has pointed out that the only time he actually met Diana was at a London AIDS hospice.)

Regular site visitor and frequent contributor Jeffrey Durst has observed that this song—and particularly the famous line from the chorus "There are no more lovers left alive"—may have been influenced by the 1964 novel Only Lovers Left Alive by Dave Wallis, or perhaps even more likely by the Wanderers' 1981 post-punk cult-classic album of the same name. After all, 1981 was the year in which Charles and Diana were married, not to mention when Neil and Chris met and when the first cases of AIDS were reported by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (although the term "AIDS" itself wasn't coined until the following year, and retrospective research indicates that there were some pre-1981 cases). Both the novel and the album have been described as "foreboding," bearing strong overtones of death, which makes one or both of them distinctly possible if not likely influences.

Incidentally, Chris wrote the music for this song, which Neil has said is his favorite from Very.

Yesterday, When I Was Mad

During and after their "Performance" tour, Neil and Chris were sometimes more than a little upset by the critical reaction to their elaborate stage show, including comments by personal acquaintances. The lyrics of this song consist of a virtual catalogue of bitchy statements, ranging from faint praise and backhanded compliments ("You have a certain quality which really is unique") to downright cruelty ("You've both made such a little go a very long way"). We can only hope that they got most of their anger out of their system with this bit of retaliation.

More than one commentator have suggested the stylistic influence of the British band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine on this track. The Boys themselves, however, have said that its shifting time-signatures betray the influence of progressive rock—a surprising revelation, to say the least.

The single version was remixed by the Boys along with Julian Mendelsohn and Jam & Spoon. (single: UK #13, US Dance #4)

The Theatre

At least early in their career, the Pet Shop Boys were sometimes accused of being solopsists devoid of social conscience. But one need look no further than this song to see how untrue that is. Neil's lyrics—inspired by a callous comment about the homeless made by a Tory member of Parliament that Chris had read in the newspaper—draw a pointed contrast between the illusory glitz and glamor of theatre-district nightlife with the squalid reality of urban desperation and homelessness. The verses focus on the former, the choruses on the latter. ("You pretend not to look … . We're the bums you step over as you leave the theatre.") And he can't resist getting in a dig at Andrew Lloyd Webber, can he?

One and One Make Five

A desperate plea to a lover to provide assurances, both to the narrator and to their gossiping friends and acquaintances, that their love is still alive and well. He wants the rumors to be proven as false as the idea that "one and one make five." The sense of urgency conveyed by this song in its classic uptempo Europop setting gives it an almost happy sound—and indeed its outcome would well be happy if the protagonist's best hopes for a positive response from his lover are realized. It's that ambivalence—the uncertain outcome, the blend of hope and fear—that gives this marvelous song much of its power. That and a smashing great arrangement, one of the best on the Very album. (Chris would agree with this assessment; he himself has reportedly said of it, "musically it's a masterpiece.") That's the Boys' assistant Dainton doing the "here we go, here we go" bit.

To Speak Is a Sin

The Boys' somber depiction of the bar scene—the gay bar scene in particular, though they concede that it's a rather dated portrayal "now that everyone's out." The title line refers to the unwritten code of some bars (indeed, more so in the past than at present) that virtually forbids casual conversation. Pervaded by an overwhelming sense of loneliness, echoed by a prominent solo alto saxophone, this is one of Neil and Chris's slower, more downbeat tracks and seems somewhat out of place amidst the generally more "up" mood of Very. (Sure enough, it's a surprisingly "old" song that the Boys wrote back in their "Bobby O days" before they hit it big.) Yet it provides a nice contrast with its surroundings and, in fact, boasts one of the loveliest melodies in the PSB canon.

Young Offender

The history of rock and pop music is full of songs that deal with the "generation gap." But rarely do they do so within the context of a possible sexual relationship. In "Young Offender," a middle-aged man speaks to someone much younger, defensively expressing his uncertainties about their actual or, perhaps more likely, prospective relationship. The lyrics could be read either as the older man speaking directly to the younger man or as the secret thoughts of the older man, imagining what he might say to a young guy whom he is merely observing.

The lyrics include one of Neil's most celebrated lines, "I've been a teenager since before you were born." Meanwhile, the music has a distinctly "techno" feel that includes "beeping" sounds common to computer games, highly appropriate to the scenario described in the lyrics of the younger man playing a computer game while the older man looks on somewhat bemusedly. ("I haven't a clue," he confesses.)

Both the music and the title originated with Chris, with Neil building his narrative upon a strong foundation provided by his musical partner.

One in a Million

This driving song, propelled by its galloping bass synthesizer line, can barely conceal its essentially (but not unavoidably) gay subtext. The narrator tries to assure his erstwhile, unfaithful lover that he won't stand in his way or try to prevent his leaving, despite the fact that, as he puts it, "of course I'll feel rejected." But at the same time he warns him that only "one in a million men can change the way you feel"—implying that he himself is that one man. In short, he's telling his lover that he's free to go, but that he'll have a hard time finding as much happiness and satisfaction as he can enjoy by staying. Neil and Chris created this number by combining two songs they had written—one from nearly ten years before and another they had just recently started. They had toyed with the idea of offering it to the British "boy band" Take That to record, but ultimately decided against it.

Go West (Belolo/Morali/Willis; additions by Tennant/Lowe)

Neil has said of this track, "We tried to bring out the elegiac quality of a utopia that couldn't be realized." It was Chris's idea to cover the Village People classic from 1979. Neil was reluctant at first, but he soon warmed to the idea and later conceded that, as usual, Chris's idea for a remake was right on target. With the help of an all-male authentic Broadway chorus—described by arranger Richard Niles as "very butch, very camp"—the Boys transformed the original celebration of the "Gay American Dream" of California sunshine, warmth, brotherhood, and sex into an intensely ironic yet assertive and strangely uplifting disco dirge haunted by AIDS.

Of course the Village People had successfully drawn upon the famous suggestion to "Go West, young man"—which, by the way, wasn't original with nineteenth-century American journalist Horace Greeley, as commonly believed, although he did popularize it. That certainly remains in the PSB rendition. But I can't help but wonder the extent to which Chris and Neil were also consciously drawing upon the ages-old cultural tradition of "going west," riding off into the sunset, being symbolic of death—an idea that surely wasn't in the minds of either Greeley or the Village People when they respectively appropriated the phrase.

Further, the video took an altogether different approach, applying the lyrics to an ironic commentary on the defeat of Soviet communism and the "westernization" of Russia. In this way Tennant and Lowe created several layers of meaning where only one had existed before. And they got a major hit single in the process. At least it was a major hit in Britain and much of the rest of the world. In the U.S. it was rarely heard outside of gay dance clubs, although a sound-alike instrumental track made a brief appearance in the background of a car commercial. Incidentally, the Pet Shop Boys noticed that the chord progression on which the original tune was based is that of German composer Johann Pachelbel's Canon, so they emphasized it in the opening phrases, thus further suggesting a dirge-like atmosphere. (Coincidentally, the music also resembles the former Soviet national anthem.)

Neil and Chris added the new middle section ("There where the air is free…"); Neil wrote the new words and Chris the additional music. Neil modified some of the original lyrics as well. (single: UK #2, US Dance #1)

Postscript

This brief "hidden" song appears at the end of Very after more than a minute of silence following "Go West." Nowhere is it mentioned in the original album notes, and even the name "Postscript" was conjectural until it was confirmed by the 2001 reissue. (The first words, "I Believe in Ecstasy," had also been suggested by fans as a possible title.) It's a highly atypical number in which a chorus of Chris Lowe's heavily multi-tracked vocals sing about the conflicting senses of joy and sadness at remembering a close friend or lover who is now lost. ("It's a reversal of roles," says Neil, pointing out that he plays most of the keyboards on this track while Chris sings and plays piano.) The song ends with an unresolved chord and the words, "And I know we'll meet again."

Of course, it's no accident that it follows, after that period of respectful silence, the largely AIDS-inspired deconstruction of "Go West." In fact, it's been widely interpreted that this "Postscipt" is Chris's tribute to his close friend and roommate (and rumored lover) Peter Andreas, who was in the final stages of AIDS at the time the track was recorded. He died shortly after the album's release. An alternate interpretation—one that Chris has strongly denied—is that this song is an ode to the drug Ecstasy. Although I don't necessarily take songwriters at their word when they talk about their songs, in this case I wholeheartedly believe Chris.

Further Listening 1992-1994
(bonus disc with the 2001 reissue of Very)

The following songs—the first two of which were originally recorded by Tina Turner and Kylie Minogue, respectively—have appeared in the Boys' own renditions only on the Very reissue's "Further Listening" bonus disc. Entries for the various b-sides of the singles taken from Very can be found under Alternative, while "Absolutely Fabulous" can be found under Disco 2.

Confidential

This recording—first released as a bonus track on the "Single-Bilingual" CD single—was actually produced around the same time as Very, in 1993, as a demo for Tina Turner. She included her rendition (on which both Boys play keyboards and Neil provides background vocals) on her 1996 album Wildest Dreams. The lyrics simply relate the protagonist's assurances to someone else of his or her saddened, reluctant willingness to maintain strict confidentiality about their relationship. The downbeat minor-key melody conveys more of that sadness than do the words themselves, suggesting perhaps that the narrator isn't being completely honest, including to him- or herself. (The capacity of people for self-deception is virtually boundless.)

As performed by Tina Turner, this is most likely an extramarital heterosexual affair. But as performed by the Pet Shop Boys with Neil's lead vocal, it can very readily but not necessarily be interpreted as a secret homosexual affair between the narrator and perhaps a public figure. In some ways this song covers the same territory as "In Private," albeit with a little more accommodation and a lot less vitriol.

Falling

This 1994 track originated with one of Chris's efforts to create a new remix of "Go West." He gave up on that, and instead he and Neil decided to use the instrumental track as the basis for a new song altogether. As it so happened, at about the same time Kylie Minogue asked the Boys to provide her with a new song, so the erstwhile "Go West" remix became the Kylie track "Falling."

Unfortunately, the whole situation was marred by bad timing, and it would seem that both Kylie and the Boys were somewhat dissatisfied with the final results. Chris and Neil had written and produced "Falling" very much in the soaring Stock-Aitken-Waterman style that Kylie had adhered to up to that point in her career. Kylie, however, wanted a very different style for her first post-SAW album. Kylie accepted the song but eschewed the original SAW-style backing track, choosing instead to re-record it altogether. In the new arrangement, she sang/spoke/whispered the lyrics a la Madonna circa "Justify My Love," all but abandoning the original melody. Chris and Neil were deeply disappointed by this since they felt that the song actually boasted a rather strong melody.

The original PSB demo version finally saw the light of day with the 2001 reissue of Very. It's interesting to note the recurring melodic motif played on the french horn—or, more likely, a digital keyboard using french horn samples—that the Boys would later reuse for the concluding phrase in the chorus of "To Step Aside." The lyrics (which Neil frankly considers among his worst) are simple and straightforward, with the narrator revealing mixed feelings about "falling in love again" with someone who had previously been unfaithful. Since these lyrics were originally written to be sung by Kylie, Neil's rendition takes on seemingly bisexual overtones: "Tell me now you regret her."

In summary, we can be very glad indeed that the Pet Shop Boys finally decided to release their version. We love Kylie, but, to be blunt, the PSB version is vastly superior—in fact, at least in the mind of this writer, it is perhaps the single greatest highlight of the entire reissue series.

Girls and Boys (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree)

After the Britpop band Blur recorded their original version of this thoroughly ambisexual song—which seems to celebrate every conceivable affectional preference and combination—they got the Pet Shop Boys to remix it into a rollicking dance track that became a huge international single success. The packaging of the remix single even mirrored the Very-era graphic style, making it look as much a PSB release as one by Blur.

Neil and Chris subsequently took to performing the song themselves during their DiscoVery tour. It was at one of those shows that the Boys' live cover of the song was recorded. It later appeared as the b-side of their "Paninaro '95" single. It also wound up on the Japanese edition of Alternative but, notably, not the U.K. or U.S. releases. The PSB version didn't find its way onto a U.K. or U.S. album until the Further Listening bonus disc accompanying the 2001 reissue of Very.

Copyright © 2001-2008 by Wayne Studer. All Rights Reserved. All lyrics and images copyright © their respective dates by their respective owners. Brief quotations and small, low-resolution images are used for identification and critical commentary; it is therefore believed that they constitute Fair Use under U.S. copyright law.