Did someone say "realistic videos"?
6.
possibly the best pop lyric of all time
Doesn’t quite hit the mark
DAME LIZA
6. Rent
9.1083333333
UK #8 IRL #5 POL Radio Three #1 ITA #9 FIN #12 GER #10 SPA #21 SWI #10 SWE #19 AUT #27 AUS #81
Highest score: 11 (
@VeryPSB),
10x18 (
@Mikey1701,
@Farnaby,
@Jóga,
@GhettoPrincess,
@JakeMagnus,
@One Stop Candy Shop,
@SmashHitter,
@funkyg,
@Bleu Noir,
@JonBcn,
@slurmjunkie,
@Eric Generic,
@Auntie Beryl,
@etcetera,
@KingBruno,
@Sally_Harper,
@Peer_Gynt10,
@Heaven on Earth),
9.8 (
@TrendyMüller)
Lowest score:
brace yourselves
ZERO (@Sweet Music)
The magazine's [Out of Order, Japanese fan magazine – Ray] highlight – the article Neil mentions this morning – is a two-page discussion between two fans about the true meaning of the song 'Rent', an earnest debate round the relationship between love and materialism, ownership and security, food and love. The crucial issue, they conclude, is 'the lost conjunction' between the chorus lines 'I love you' and 'you pay my rent'. They toy with 'but' and 'that' and ask for suggestions.
Neil is amused and fascinated by this. He takes the issue raised seriously enough to reflect on it later, but decides that there is indeed no conjunction and none is implied – if it was anything, he says, it would be 'and' or a semi-colon, 'two separate functions: "I love you" and "you pay my rent".'
Neil: I thought of the coupled 'I love you/You pay my rent' first and then I had to think what it meant. It was like a puzzle, making sense of it. Then I sort of got the idea of the story, a kept man or woman, a mistress. It was always set in America and I always vaguely thought of Edward Kennedy for some reason. This politician, I suppose, who keeps this woman in a smart flat in Manhattan and he's still got his family and they have some sort of relationship and they do love each other but it's all kind of secret and at the same time he pays the rent of the flat and she does love him really. And she's thinking whether it's been a wasted life or not – the emotional currency spent on a not-totally-satisfactory relationship – and at the same time maybe she's quite a lazy person and she's had quite a nice life thanks to him. She hasn't had to go out to work. She's survived, but at the same time it's not satisfactory. There's a sense of excitement but also an enormous sense of resignation. Is this it then? Is that all there is? But then actually it's not that bad. I think in the song there's also a tremendous loyalty on both sides and the money doesn't
really matter. She doesn't really care about the money 'when you're lying next to me'; the point is he isn't always. The reason there's no conjunction – 'I love you/You pay my rent' – is that they're two separate functions. If anything it's a semi-colon: 'I love you; you pay my rent'. It's not 'because'. It's not 'but'. It's put very bleakly. It's someone who's totally realistic. The romanticism and excitement has been shattered and only the luxury remains.
Chris: Originally it was a high energy song – with Bobby 'O' we recorded it with this brilliant orchestral sample nicked from a Barry White album – but Julian Mendelsohn thought we had too many high energy songs on the album so Andy Richards very cleverly gave it a half-tempo feel.
Exciting trivia: during the 1989 tour Neil mentioned to Chris Heath that the original lyrics were 'You phoned me in the evening on hearsay to tell me who you are/You took me to a restaurant on Broadway and introduced me to a star'. They have been changed to avoid association with Elton John and his rent boy scandal. Nevertheless, upon remembering that Neil sang the original lyrics during that night's show.
@Ray: This is one of the songs that suffered from me trying not to give everything 10s. It's also one of the first PSB CD singles I ever got, and for that reason alone I feel very nostalgic about it.
@TrendyMüller and his "PSB were never a good video band" must have completely missed this one. Derek Jarman created a nightmare theatre play about the rich and beautiful; I still remember how repulsed and fascinated I was by the eating scenes. Fantastic lyrical content as well. It was a slight chart wobble in their imperial phase, quickly remedied by 'Heart', of course. Can you really muse about semicolon vs 'but' vs 'because' in a lot of pop songs devoted to mistresses of politicians?
I do not seem to have any commentary either from
@VeryPSB nor
@Sweet Music, unfortunately, but I expect Sweet Music to give us some sweet reasoning for his score.
@Mikey1701:
Beautiful, tragic and ethereal. One part of the holy trinity from the parent album. I can’t quite put my finger on what about this is so spellbinding for me, but Neil’s role as an escort desperate for affection is ever so emotional. I use Dame Liza’s incredible version more, but I have a lot of time and a lot of love for this.
DAME LIZA
@chris4862:
Doesn’t quite hit the mark in the same way that Liza’s eventually would.
DAME LIZA
@TrendyMüller:
Another one of their in-your-face-gay-hooker songs. And it´s all the better for it. Bought this in San Francisco and it was the b-side to What Have I Done…what a great single!
DAME L– wait, was it really the b-side to a Dusty collaboration? How...iconic, really.
Chorus fans, step to the front:
@One Stop Candy Shop:
"I love you, you pay my rent" is possibly the best pop lyric of all time.
@DominoDancing:
Pretty arrangement that hints at the style they'd go for on Behavior, and "I love you/You pay my rent" is a fantastic lyric. It's not my favorite mid-tempo ballad they've recorded, but it's still very good.
@Heaven on Earth:
I often wonder what it’s like to be a sugar daddy, willing to waste money in order to sustain a relationship with a gold digger. I can’t imagine the loneliness that knowledge can bring, but as “Rent,” in the point of view of a gold digger, it can bring a source of superficial happiness. Actually is actually an album filled with loneliness beneath its pop-ridden exterior, and “Rent” is one of those essential songs that express the theme. Interestingly enough, it’s filled with so-called happiness, when, really, it’s devastating to listen to two people’s delusion, delusion that came forth out of a need in this modern age for an emotional connection.
@Jóga:
Beautiful.
@GhettoPrincess:
An anthem for sugar daddies and their sugar babies everywhere. I do love how innocent it sounded to me when I first heard it. [Let's say I didn't notice that for quite a while either.]
@Future Lover:
Lovely single mix, but the album version is very good on its own. [Isn't the single mix just a shorter edit?]
@KingBruno:
Love the peculiar songwriting.
@ohnoitisnathan:
Nice.
@Sally_Harper:
I know they’re more known for big lively tunes but I think PSB are also SO BLOODY GOOD at this type of atmospheric, mid-tempo song (this is where I remember how shit I am at describing music). Also, I love how Northern Neil sounds in the opening verse.
@Peer_Gynt10:
over the years, I’ve come to appreciate this one more and more – plus that gorgeous smile that Chris offers in the video…
Gorgeous smile offered in the video:
Bobby 'O' demo:
Delightful extended mix:
1989 tour:
Acoustic at the Savoy:
