I gues its simply the fact that it´s a nice basic bop that sits in between two not so great songs that end on -ly
Pet Shop Boys Rate. Part 1: 1985-1991. Winner.
- Thread starter Ray
- Start date
Crappily and Awkwardly.
Weirdly, I think it fits into the album well ... Breaking down individual tracks it’s never gonna be anywhere near the top of anyone’s favourites ... But it needs to be there to round out the album ... Sum of parts and all that ... Seriously? serves the same purpose but the single mix is so good that you groan internally every time track 4 comes on ...
In a way "The End Of The World" is the only real piece of fluff on Behaviour, but I do think this album needed something that's not about Russian revolutions, domestic violence and Zelda Fitzgeralds. I just wish that something was "Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend" instead. I do like, though, "at midnight in desperation/imagine to/tal/teen/age/destruction". Brilliant.
(He said, playing "Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend")
(He said, playing "Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend")
D
Deleted member 6896
Sad to see "Excited' go. My favourite PSB b-side and in my Top 10 all time PSB tuneage.
In my top 10 also ...
Here's my upload of Inga Humpe's 'Do I Have To' @Ray . Thanks @anfunny2003 for the audio! The picture has some minor imperfections, though... but at least it's not cropped/stretched.
Thank you!
And now something I am quite shocked by...
29.
excruciatingly beautiful
it's a bit boring
29. It Couldn't Happen Here
7.7472222222
Theme song to the Pet Shop Boys' Cinematic Flop and Actually album track
Highest score: 10 (@Sally_Harper, @Eric Generic, @slurmjunkie, @Bleu Noir, @etienne, @Jóga)
Lowest score: 3 (@JakeMagnus)
Neil: I sometimes put it on video, but I can never get past the first ten minutes. It's a bit impenetrable. One of the hardest things we've ever done is to try to invent a logical spiel to explain It Couldn't Happen Here to American journalists.
JS: Your career is quite often talked about as if it's been a continual triumph, blotted only by one disaster: your film It Couldn't Happen Here. Is that how you see it?
Neil (to Chris): Go on. You're a great defender of this film, Chris.
Chris: Well, only so much as I think every now and again I might watch it. But I don't. It's certainly got some very good moments in it. I couldn't understand [...] what most of the criticism was about. We watched it several times and not once did I stop to think, 'what's it all about?'
[listening to mixtape from a fan]
Next is the song 'It Couldn't Happen Here'.
'Why aren't we doing this?' asks Chris. 'This is a good one for the lighters.'
'This is a serious scarf-waver, this,' Neil agrees.
Then an odd thing happens. After the chorus plays on the tape – 'you said it couldn't happen here' – Chris sings along an extra line 'just before it did'. I presume this is just a pedantic joke, but it's not. 'It's the original lyric,' says Neil. It turns out that originally the chorus did run 'you said it couldn't happen here – just before it did', but Chris refused to take it seriously.
'He kept singing it in a Preston accent,' explains Neil, obviously still not entirely amused by the affair, 'so I took it out in a mood'.
'"Did" is a funny word,' justifies Chris, 'especially at the end of the sentence. I was creasing myself laughing... legs in the air.'
'I had a major mood,' remembers Neil.
Neil: We were recording the song with Stephen Hague and I remember we had a bit of a row with him because he hadn't arranged an orchestra to record Angelo Badalamenti arrangement. So, instead, Blue Weaved brought in his Fairlight and spent two days programming the entire arrangement using orchestral samples. It took three different passes of the Fairlight to record all the parts, and actually it gives the whole track a very eerie quality we would never have got from an orchestra. It sounds tighter, and also more weird. It's probably my favourite track on the album. I remember Dusty playing it as one of her favourite records on Radio One saying it reminded her of Elgar. The lyric is about this friend of mine who was diagnosed with having Aids. 'Who do you think you are' refers to the idea that gay people were too public. I remember my friend and I discussing Aids, and how people said it wasn't going to develop in England like it had in America. We said it couldn't happen here.
The song then becomes about how Aids affected the gay community, and the way people reacted to the gay community and suggested it was almost as though the gay community had been too visible and had themselves to blame. The third verse reflects how people just reacted illogically to the whole thing and weren't able to react like it was a normal illness.
Ray: I adore this song. I thought it would be top 10, possibly top 5. It's... well, I can hear the Badalamenti arrangement in it. My favourite bit about the film is in About Pet Shop Boys BBC documentary, actually, where Chris is reading a PSB quiz and gets to 'can you name the Pet Shop Boys cinematic... FLOP???? THE PET SHOP BOYS CINEMATIC... FLOP????' Well. It was. And it is kind of unwatchable unless you're super stoned. I gave it a 9. Because there was serious danger my average for Actually would end up being 10.1. But that Fairlight instrumental at the end of the post makes me so wish it got a 10 from me. Mind, it would still remain #29.
@Jóga: If Rent's beautiful, this is excruciatingly beautiful. The lyrics' sadness and the whole production feel give me goosebumps. [Yes.]
@One Stop Candy Shop: 'Awful movie' anthem. It's a decent ballad, but perhaps too melodramatic. [I think the movie title is unrelated to the song itself, I still had to put some quotes about the movie in, because if not now then when?]
@Mikey1701: Stunning. There really is no better word to describe it. You can really hear the anguish in Neil’s vocals, especially when realise the song is about his (or his character’s belief) belief that the AIDS epidemic would never reach Britain.
@DominoDancing: "I may be wrong but I thought we said/It couldn't happen here" is a devastating lyric considering the inspiration, but it's a shame that the track itself is a complete bore. I know that's a strange thing to say about a track co-written with Morricone and arranged by Badalamenti, two of the best score composers there are. But the song just ends up sounding soooo sedate, and the arrangement is for the most part so simple with its block chords that it's far from Badalamenti's best work. [I wonder what you think about that instrumental. It blows me away.]
@Bleu Noir: an elegiac cinematic
@ohnoitisnathan: I suspect this is the sort of thing that's a fan-favourite, but from my cursory listen as a casual fan, it's a bit boring.
@Sally_Harper: Gorgeous. Wouldn’t be out of place on Elysium! [JESUS SALLY that is TOO MUCH SHADE.]
@Heaven on Earth: This album means so much to me, because it’s an expression of my soul and mind. Each song means something, and it never fails to get me into an emotional state. This song is sort of an encapsulation of what I love most about Actually: the absolutely devastating lyrics backed by the glorious and lush production. It may be a contrast like “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” or it may be a completion. The orchestral nature of this particular song is appropriate for it’s the sonic haziness to the narrator’s haziness.
@TrendyMüller: This is almost too ambitious. A Morricone power-ballad about the beginning of the AIDS crisis?! Why not.
BBC live with orchestra:
Another incredible Fairlight recreation:
And now something I am quite shocked by...
29.
excruciatingly beautiful
it's a bit boring
29. It Couldn't Happen Here
7.7472222222
Theme song to the Pet Shop Boys' Cinematic Flop and Actually album track
Highest score: 10 (@Sally_Harper, @Eric Generic, @slurmjunkie, @Bleu Noir, @etienne, @Jóga)
Lowest score: 3 (@JakeMagnus)
Neil: I sometimes put it on video, but I can never get past the first ten minutes. It's a bit impenetrable. One of the hardest things we've ever done is to try to invent a logical spiel to explain It Couldn't Happen Here to American journalists.
JS: Your career is quite often talked about as if it's been a continual triumph, blotted only by one disaster: your film It Couldn't Happen Here. Is that how you see it?
Neil (to Chris): Go on. You're a great defender of this film, Chris.
Chris: Well, only so much as I think every now and again I might watch it. But I don't. It's certainly got some very good moments in it. I couldn't understand [...] what most of the criticism was about. We watched it several times and not once did I stop to think, 'what's it all about?'
[listening to mixtape from a fan]
Next is the song 'It Couldn't Happen Here'.
'Why aren't we doing this?' asks Chris. 'This is a good one for the lighters.'
'This is a serious scarf-waver, this,' Neil agrees.
Then an odd thing happens. After the chorus plays on the tape – 'you said it couldn't happen here' – Chris sings along an extra line 'just before it did'. I presume this is just a pedantic joke, but it's not. 'It's the original lyric,' says Neil. It turns out that originally the chorus did run 'you said it couldn't happen here – just before it did', but Chris refused to take it seriously.
'He kept singing it in a Preston accent,' explains Neil, obviously still not entirely amused by the affair, 'so I took it out in a mood'.
'"Did" is a funny word,' justifies Chris, 'especially at the end of the sentence. I was creasing myself laughing... legs in the air.'
'I had a major mood,' remembers Neil.
Neil: We were recording the song with Stephen Hague and I remember we had a bit of a row with him because he hadn't arranged an orchestra to record Angelo Badalamenti arrangement. So, instead, Blue Weaved brought in his Fairlight and spent two days programming the entire arrangement using orchestral samples. It took three different passes of the Fairlight to record all the parts, and actually it gives the whole track a very eerie quality we would never have got from an orchestra. It sounds tighter, and also more weird. It's probably my favourite track on the album. I remember Dusty playing it as one of her favourite records on Radio One saying it reminded her of Elgar. The lyric is about this friend of mine who was diagnosed with having Aids. 'Who do you think you are' refers to the idea that gay people were too public. I remember my friend and I discussing Aids, and how people said it wasn't going to develop in England like it had in America. We said it couldn't happen here.
The song then becomes about how Aids affected the gay community, and the way people reacted to the gay community and suggested it was almost as though the gay community had been too visible and had themselves to blame. The third verse reflects how people just reacted illogically to the whole thing and weren't able to react like it was a normal illness.
Ray: I adore this song. I thought it would be top 10, possibly top 5. It's... well, I can hear the Badalamenti arrangement in it. My favourite bit about the film is in About Pet Shop Boys BBC documentary, actually, where Chris is reading a PSB quiz and gets to 'can you name the Pet Shop Boys cinematic... FLOP???? THE PET SHOP BOYS CINEMATIC... FLOP????' Well. It was. And it is kind of unwatchable unless you're super stoned. I gave it a 9. Because there was serious danger my average for Actually would end up being 10.1. But that Fairlight instrumental at the end of the post makes me so wish it got a 10 from me. Mind, it would still remain #29.
@Jóga: If Rent's beautiful, this is excruciatingly beautiful. The lyrics' sadness and the whole production feel give me goosebumps. [Yes.]
@One Stop Candy Shop: 'Awful movie' anthem. It's a decent ballad, but perhaps too melodramatic. [I think the movie title is unrelated to the song itself, I still had to put some quotes about the movie in, because if not now then when?]
@Mikey1701: Stunning. There really is no better word to describe it. You can really hear the anguish in Neil’s vocals, especially when realise the song is about his (or his character’s belief) belief that the AIDS epidemic would never reach Britain.
@DominoDancing: "I may be wrong but I thought we said/It couldn't happen here" is a devastating lyric considering the inspiration, but it's a shame that the track itself is a complete bore. I know that's a strange thing to say about a track co-written with Morricone and arranged by Badalamenti, two of the best score composers there are. But the song just ends up sounding soooo sedate, and the arrangement is for the most part so simple with its block chords that it's far from Badalamenti's best work. [I wonder what you think about that instrumental. It blows me away.]
@Bleu Noir: an elegiac cinematic
@ohnoitisnathan: I suspect this is the sort of thing that's a fan-favourite, but from my cursory listen as a casual fan, it's a bit boring.
@Sally_Harper: Gorgeous. Wouldn’t be out of place on Elysium! [JESUS SALLY that is TOO MUCH SHADE.]
@Heaven on Earth: This album means so much to me, because it’s an expression of my soul and mind. Each song means something, and it never fails to get me into an emotional state. This song is sort of an encapsulation of what I love most about Actually: the absolutely devastating lyrics backed by the glorious and lush production. It may be a contrast like “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” or it may be a completion. The orchestral nature of this particular song is appropriate for it’s the sonic haziness to the narrator’s haziness.
@TrendyMüller: This is almost too ambitious. A Morricone power-ballad about the beginning of the AIDS crisis?! Why not.
BBC live with orchestra:
Another incredible Fairlight recreation:
D
Deleted member 6896
Another personal PSB Top 10 bites the dust. I could happen here apparently.
It Couldn’t Happen Here is the exact opposite of The End Of The World (see above) in terms of it is there to darken the mood, and is bookended by 2 of my least favourite PSB tracks (certainly on Actually) …
It never tries to raise anyones spirits, with Neil’s soaring vocal only evoking defiance rather than any sense of hope ... A very British song, about a subject that Britain wasn’t quite ready to discuss ... I could imagine Marianne Faithful singing this to great affect ...
I gave this an 8, but it should really get a 9 on reflection ...
It never tries to raise anyones spirits, with Neil’s soaring vocal only evoking defiance rather than any sense of hope ... A very British song, about a subject that Britain wasn’t quite ready to discuss ... I could imagine Marianne Faithful singing this to great affect ...
I gave this an 8, but it should really get a 9 on reflection ...
Oh man, I just don't know with this one. It always feels like it's eight minutes long. The instrumental is...nice, I guess? But it feels like there's material for one minute spread out over five minutes.
28 better PSB songs from 1985-91 than THIS?
Fucking insane.
Fucking insane.
Blame @JakeMagnus (who I notice doesn't exactly appear in this thread a LOT)...
Let's think about it.
What song can possibly be better than "It Couldn't Happen Here"?
28.
not really here for that
just doesn’t do it for me
a bit obnoxious
But somehow this happened...
28. Always On My Mind/In My House
7.9185714286
Introspective album track, sort of
Highest score: 11* (@Eric Generic), 10 (@Mikey1701, @Farnaby, @RaggedTiger, @Jóga, @GhettoPrincess, @etienne, @idratherjack, @slurmjunkie)
Lowest score: 5 (@Heaven on Earth, @Peer_Gynt10, @Sally_Harper, @chris4862, @VeryPSB)
As you can see from the scores this is a tad divisive!
Neil: We were very much aware of the fact that 'Always On My Mind' had been a number one single, but hadn't been on an album. When it was a single one of the twelve-inch versions had been a mix by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow, and a new riff replaced the brass riff. That's the tune at the beginning of this version. So we started this mix quite stripped down, and then took it on a journey, through a whole new bit, until you ended up back with it sounding like the original seven-inch. The 'in my house' section at the time, believe it or not, was supposed to be acid house. At the time there was the name 'acid house' but the music didn't really exist. I added a rap, just continuing the idea of the song. It was an interesting musical exercise trying to work how to get back to the original tune, all flags flying. I think we used a lot of bluster. At the end you can hear fireworks from J. J. Jeczalik's party. J. J. was having a bonfire party and Julian Mendelsohn went, so I said, 'Tape his fireworks – we can use those on the record'.
Ray: I'm actually struggling with coming up with any commentary, but you guys did a very good job... the floor, er, post is yours. So with the eight 10s, does anybody actually like it?
@Jóga: I prefer the single version, which I want to be my wedding song, but I feel like this is the perfect 12'' mix.
@Mikey1701: When I first listened to this, my initial reaction was “what the fuck have they done?”. I couldn’t understand why they so fundamentally alter one of the greatest anthems in pop history. Then one evening, I was getting for a night out and everything clicked for me. The acid house production really draws focus to the lyrics while giving you something to dance around to. The In My House is ridiculous and fantastic at the same time and the final three minutes when it all finally kicks off is everything I need from life. I think it was Ray who commented that AOMM/IMH is the sound of the lads having fun in the studio- and crucially, they’ve let us all share in that. One of my favourites. [Yup. Me.]
Well, it looks like those are all the comments from the people who gave it a 10... and the rest?
@One Stop Candy Shop: In My House is unneeded, Always On My Mind is everything.
@DominoDancing: Yeah not really here for that. Neither the extended intro nor the "In My House" part are really great. It's not horrible, I enjoy the vocal tinkering in In My House and the bassline is pretty cool, but I never, ever listen to the whole nine minutes of this.
@chris4862: The album version just doesn’t do it for me. Oops.
@Future Lover: A quirky experiment with one of their biggest hits in the mix. The best moment is, of course, when the glorious original blasts towards the end. Never cared much for the "In My House" section.
@ohnoitisnathan: I like the 'Always On My Mind' part a lot more than the 'In My House' part.
@Sally_Harper: I’m not quite convinced that Always On My Mind fits with this ravey music, but nonetheless I was enjoying it until three minutes in or so, when it rapidly descended into being one of the most bizarrely unpleasant things I’ve ever heard. The spoken bit especially is really, really creepy. I love the Always On My Mind parts, but the middle bit…no.
@tylerc904: Gonna dock half a point I guess, since the single mix has it’s own spot in here and that clearly deserves a higher score.
@Epic Chocolat: It's a long song, isn't it? [9:04]
@Peer_Gynt10: I never realized how much this version of ‘Always’ sounds like Tiffany’s ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’, but otherwise the song is a bit obnoxious
@Heaven on Earth: I’m not a fan of the way “Always on My Mind” was remixed with the acid house song. It doesn’t work, especially when one compares this to the far superior single version.
@TrendyMüller: the decision to turn this ultimate exercise in orchestra-hittage into a DJ-tool takes away the power of impact. The chipmunk rap is not the best thing the boys did, the vocal sample is very shoddy (on purpose?) [This chipmunk part made me think for a while Neil was voicing Bart Simpson. In my defense, I was 12.]
Fanmade edit:
Parralox cover:
* @Eric Generic REFUSED to score this. There is literally no score from him. So I gave his 11 a 0, and gave this 11 points.**
** This did not actually happen. I just divided the sum of others' scores by 35 instead of 36. Just saying, Eric, your 0 would have brought this down to #30, bumping "It Couldn't Happen Here" and "I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)". I hope you're pleased.
With #27 we enter averages of 8+.
What song can possibly be better than "It Couldn't Happen Here"?
28.
not really here for that
just doesn’t do it for me
a bit obnoxious
But somehow this happened...
28. Always On My Mind/In My House
7.9185714286
Introspective album track, sort of
Highest score: 11* (@Eric Generic), 10 (@Mikey1701, @Farnaby, @RaggedTiger, @Jóga, @GhettoPrincess, @etienne, @idratherjack, @slurmjunkie)
Lowest score: 5 (@Heaven on Earth, @Peer_Gynt10, @Sally_Harper, @chris4862, @VeryPSB)
As you can see from the scores this is a tad divisive!
Neil: We were very much aware of the fact that 'Always On My Mind' had been a number one single, but hadn't been on an album. When it was a single one of the twelve-inch versions had been a mix by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow, and a new riff replaced the brass riff. That's the tune at the beginning of this version. So we started this mix quite stripped down, and then took it on a journey, through a whole new bit, until you ended up back with it sounding like the original seven-inch. The 'in my house' section at the time, believe it or not, was supposed to be acid house. At the time there was the name 'acid house' but the music didn't really exist. I added a rap, just continuing the idea of the song. It was an interesting musical exercise trying to work how to get back to the original tune, all flags flying. I think we used a lot of bluster. At the end you can hear fireworks from J. J. Jeczalik's party. J. J. was having a bonfire party and Julian Mendelsohn went, so I said, 'Tape his fireworks – we can use those on the record'.
Ray: I'm actually struggling with coming up with any commentary, but you guys did a very good job... the floor, er, post is yours. So with the eight 10s, does anybody actually like it?
@Jóga: I prefer the single version, which I want to be my wedding song, but I feel like this is the perfect 12'' mix.
@Mikey1701: When I first listened to this, my initial reaction was “what the fuck have they done?”. I couldn’t understand why they so fundamentally alter one of the greatest anthems in pop history. Then one evening, I was getting for a night out and everything clicked for me. The acid house production really draws focus to the lyrics while giving you something to dance around to. The In My House is ridiculous and fantastic at the same time and the final three minutes when it all finally kicks off is everything I need from life. I think it was Ray who commented that AOMM/IMH is the sound of the lads having fun in the studio- and crucially, they’ve let us all share in that. One of my favourites. [Yup. Me.]
Well, it looks like those are all the comments from the people who gave it a 10... and the rest?
@One Stop Candy Shop: In My House is unneeded, Always On My Mind is everything.
@DominoDancing: Yeah not really here for that. Neither the extended intro nor the "In My House" part are really great. It's not horrible, I enjoy the vocal tinkering in In My House and the bassline is pretty cool, but I never, ever listen to the whole nine minutes of this.
@chris4862: The album version just doesn’t do it for me. Oops.
@Future Lover: A quirky experiment with one of their biggest hits in the mix. The best moment is, of course, when the glorious original blasts towards the end. Never cared much for the "In My House" section.
@ohnoitisnathan: I like the 'Always On My Mind' part a lot more than the 'In My House' part.
@Sally_Harper: I’m not quite convinced that Always On My Mind fits with this ravey music, but nonetheless I was enjoying it until three minutes in or so, when it rapidly descended into being one of the most bizarrely unpleasant things I’ve ever heard. The spoken bit especially is really, really creepy. I love the Always On My Mind parts, but the middle bit…no.
@tylerc904: Gonna dock half a point I guess, since the single mix has it’s own spot in here and that clearly deserves a higher score.
@Epic Chocolat: It's a long song, isn't it? [9:04]
@Peer_Gynt10: I never realized how much this version of ‘Always’ sounds like Tiffany’s ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’, but otherwise the song is a bit obnoxious
@Heaven on Earth: I’m not a fan of the way “Always on My Mind” was remixed with the acid house song. It doesn’t work, especially when one compares this to the far superior single version.
@TrendyMüller: the decision to turn this ultimate exercise in orchestra-hittage into a DJ-tool takes away the power of impact. The chipmunk rap is not the best thing the boys did, the vocal sample is very shoddy (on purpose?) [This chipmunk part made me think for a while Neil was voicing Bart Simpson. In my defense, I was 12.]
Fanmade edit:
Parralox cover:
* @Eric Generic REFUSED to score this. There is literally no score from him. So I gave his 11 a 0, and gave this 11 points.**
** This did not actually happen. I just divided the sum of others' scores by 35 instead of 36. Just saying, Eric, your 0 would have brought this down to #30, bumping "It Couldn't Happen Here" and "I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)". I hope you're pleased.
With #27 we enter averages of 8+.
D
Deleted member 6896
I think I gave it a 9, love love love it. It just gallops along relentlessly.
