Pet Shop Boys part 2

Yesterday, we spent a lot of time with the 80s output of the Pet Shop Boys. It was worth it, though. I think. Today, let's speed it up a little: We'll feature three songs from the 90s, two from the 00s and one from the 10s.

First up, from 1990, Being Boring. Featuring a very sexy video, it's one of their best songs and a very personal one for Neil: "For me it is a personal song because it's about a friend of mine who died of AIDS, and so it's about our lives when we were teenagers and how we moved to London, and I suppose me becoming successful and him becoming ill."

In 1993 they released an unexpected cover of the Village People's Go West. The song featured a tongue in cheek, impressively shot video. It was to be their biggest hit after the 80s. #1 in Germany and Ireland, #2 in the UK, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, #5 in the Netherlands and a gold record in Australia. Here's the long version:

In 1999 they released New York City Boy. The song has become a gay club anthem. It hit #1 in the US Hot Dance chart. The video features scenes taken in Studio 54.

You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk was released in 2000. It was another UK Top 10 for them. I like the lyrics:

What a performance tonight

Should I react or turn off the light?

Looks like you're picking a fight

In a blurring of wrong and right

How your mood changes

You're a devil, now, an angel

Suddenly subtle and solemn and silent as a monk

You only tell me you love me when you're drunk

It's better than nothing, I suppose

Some doors have opened, others closed

But I couldn't see you exposed

To the horrors behind some of those

Somebody said, "Listen, don't you know what you're missing?

You should be kissing him instead of dissing him like a punk

You only tell me you love me when you're drunk

All of my friends keep asking me

Why, oh, why, do you not say goodbye?

If you don't even try, you'll be sunk

Cause you only tell me you love me when you're drunk

What's the meaning when you speak with so much feeling?

Is it over when you're sober? Is it junk?

You only tell me you love me when you're drunk

Flamboyant (2004), examines the excesses of fame:

You live in a world of excess

where more is more

and less is much less

A day without fame

is a waste

and a question of need

is a question of taste

You're so flamboyant

The way you live

You really care that they stare

And the press deployment

is always there

It's what you do for enjoyment

Finally, from the album Elysium (2012), a wistful disco tune that takes us back to the music and gay scenes of the 70s and 80s, reflecting on times gone and people lost. It's Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin.

I thought it was like a film

reviewed but never seen

where everybody played themselves

as a drama king or queen

The music was overwhelming

glittering and thin

solemn and shabby like a requiem

in denim and leopardskin

I visualised the flashbacks:

school, punk rock, success

parties, too much of everything

the clichés, the candles, the mess

Johnny's wearing brothel-creepers

Malcolm's round the block

Adam's in a Jarman film

The look is "Let It Rock"

A Johnson's leather jacket

Hair by Keith at Smile

All you need to make it big

is sex and style

This is our last chance for goodbye

Let the music begin

Shining and soaring like a requiem

in denim and leopardskin

The Pet Shop Boys' latest album, Super (they always have one-word album titles) was released a couple of months ago. It received stellar reviews and it made #1 in the US Dance chart, #2 in the Czech Republic, #3 in Germany & the UK, #4 in Switzerland, #7 in Spain, #8 in Austria & Finland, #10 in Sweden, #12 in Australia, #13 in the Netherlands, #16 in Ireland and #20 in Italy. I don't think that Neil and Chris consider retirement just yet.