•
Rating:
After the revelry of "Introspective" (1988), their best-selling album, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, more commonly known as the Pet Shop Boys, dedicated much of 1989 to producing for other artists. Liza Minelli called them for "Results," eager to keep up with the times. It's striking to hear her unique, unmistakable voice blend with the duo's synthesizers, but the experiment works. Just as the debut album of the supergroup Electronic (Bernard Sumner of New Order and Johnny Marr of the Smiths) works, where the Pets oversee, play (Chris), and sing (Neil) in "The Patience Of A Saint" and "Getting Away With It."
At the end of the year, the group set their sights on a new album. The declared goal was to create a masterpiece. Two rules: no sampling, only organic sounds. And, for production, a big name: Giorgio Moroder. The first rule would be relaxed during post-production. The second would find a very respectable compromise. Moroder would not follow the group in the studio; instead, he would introduce Neil and Chris to the producer who would give their tracks his trademark: Harold Faltermeyer. Remember "Axel F" from 1983? Well.
Faltermeyer would provide the guys with the instrumentation ("A real museum," Tennant would recall in the years to come), entirely composed of synthesizers and keyboards, used during the period when the German producer worked with Moroder.
To work in an ideal environment, the Pet Shop Boys met Faltermeyer in Berlin. "We started working around noon after sipping beer," Neil recalls. "Most of the time, we were drunk." Well. The intoxication did not spoil the inspiration, alive and present in every track. With painstaking patience, the duo would set a series of rare and beautiful pearls. Sadness is the backbone, the common denominator of "Behaviour," by Neil’s own admission. Perhaps this is why, in terms of sales, the album did not replicate the success of "Introspective."
"Behaviour" is not an easy listen, it doesn't insinuate immediate complicity. It takes time, often years (so yes, make yourselves comfortable). The structure of the tracks is sometimes complex, the lyrics imbued with historical references, stolen childhood, and rather troubled everyday life. Let's proceed in order.
The album opens with "Being Boring." The intro, which is actually the outro that the guys liked so much they re-edited it at the beginning of the track, is long and pleasant, the melody catchy and serene, the lyrics significant: they talk about friendship and capture three eras: the '20s ("In white attire, the invitation said, with a dedication"), the '70s ("I left the station with a backpack and some trepidation"), and the '90s ("All the people I kissed... some are here, others are gone"). When the track, chosen as the second single, stalled at number 24, the two were quite hurt. Chris: "How can it be that Heart went to number one and Being Boring to 24? The fans understand nothing."
The first real masterpiece is the second track, "This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave." The melody had been proposed by the Pets for the 1987 film "007 - The Living Daylights," which was then won by A-Ha with the song of the same name. "That's why," Chris specified years later, "it sounds so cinematic." Johnny Marr adds to the structure with a spectacular guitar riff. The lyrics tell of Neil's childhood, the pre-adolescent period spent in boarding school. Do you know where I'll extract the phrase for my next tattoo? "I'm listening to the words I thought I'd never hear again, a litany of saints and other ordinary men. Kneeling on the parquet, whatever has gone wrong? The
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Being Boring (06:50)
I came across a cache of old photos
And invitations to teenage parties
"Dress in white" one said, with quotations
From someone's wife, a famous writer
In the nineteen-twenties
When you're young you find inspiration
In anyone who's ever gone
And opened up a closing door
She said: "We were never feeling bored
'Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends"
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
When I went I left from the station
With a haversack and some trepidation
Someone said: "If you're not careful
You'll have nothing left and nothing to care for
In the nineteen-seventies"
But I sat back and looking forward
My shoes were high and I had scored
I'd bolted through a closing door
I would never find myself feeling bored
'Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends"
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friend
Now I sit with different faces
In rented rooms and foreign places
All the people I was kissing
Some are here and some are missing
In the nineteen-nineties
I never dreamt that I would get to be
The creature that I always meant to be
But I thought in spite of dreams
You'd be sitting somewhere here with me
'Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends"
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friend
And we were never being boring
We were never being bored
'Cause we were never being boring
We were never being bored
03 To Face the Truth (05:33)
(Tennant/Lowe)
--------------------
You know it hurts me when you lie
Sometimes it even makes me cry
'Cause I'm so in love with you
If you don't believe what I have said
Take a look, my eyes are red
'Cause I'm so in love with you
But all those sleepless nights in bed
When you've been out somewhere instead
I wonder if you care and cannot bear the proof
It hurts too much to face the truth
To face the truth
A lawyer with a case to prove
Would sift the evidence, then move
It's the only thing to do
So why then can't I face the facts?
Sift this evidence that backs
I am so in love with you
But all the nights when you have said
You must be somewhere else instead
I wonder where you go, but daren't expose the proof
It hurts too much to face the truth
To face the truth
To face the truth
You are the only one, the only one
You know it hurts me when you lie
Sometimes it even makes me cry
'Cause I'm so in love with you
If you don't believe what I have said
Take a look, my eyes are red
'Cause I'm so in love with you
But all the nights you don't show up
I know it's time I should grow up
I ask you if you care, you stand and stare aloof
It hurts too much to face the truth
To face the truth
To face the truth
07 So Hard (03:59)
I double-cross you
And you get mysterious mail
I've tried hard not to shock you
It's hard not to
With the things I could say
Tell me why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
Why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
You lock your letters in a box
And you've hidden the key
I go one better
I'm indebted
To a contact magazine
Tell me why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
Why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for us
Everybody's got to live together
Just to find a little peace of mind there
If you give up your affairs forever
I will give up mine
But it's hard
So hard
I'm always hoping
You'll be faithful
But you're not, I suppose
We've both give up smoking
'Cause it's fatal
So whose matches are those
Tell me why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
We make it so hard (it's so hard)
Tell me why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard
Tell me why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
We make it so hard for ourselves
We make it so hard
So hard
We make it so hard
08 Nervously (04:11)
(Tennant/Lowe)
------------
A nervous boy in several ways
I never knew the world could operate this way
I was nervous when we stopped to speak
And the world came crashing around my feet
We don't talk of love
We're much too shy
But nervously we wonder when and why
A nervous boy, in spite of which
I never thought I could tremble as much as this
Your flashing eyes and sudden smiles
Are never quite at ease, and neither am I
Oh, we'll talk about it all some night
But nervously we never get it
Right
From the start I approved of you
Right from the moment you turned to face me
A nervous boy from another town
With a nervous laugh and a concentrated frown
I spoke too fast with watchful eyes
Of a recent past and some nostalgic surprise
We don't talk of love
We're much too shy
But nervously we wonder when and
Smile
Knowing why I approved of you
Right from the moment you turned to face me
A nervous boy
10 Jealousy (04:50)
At dead of night, when strangers roam
The streets in search of anyone who'll take them home
I lie alone, the clock strikes three
And anyone who wanted to could contact me
At dead of night, 'til break of day
Endless thoughts and questions keep me awake
It's much too late
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would!
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
I never knew time passed so slow
I wish I'd never met you, or that I could bear to let you go
At dead of night, 'til break of day
Endless thoughts and questions keep me awake
It's much too late
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would!
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would!
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would!
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would!
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
I never knew 'til I met you
11 It Must Be Obvious (04:25)
(Tennant/Lowe)
---------------
Are you feeling alright?
It's easy, we've been there before
But it feels like the flight
Of the von Trapps, does that mean it's war?
Oh no,
From my head to my toes
I'm in love with you
Do you think it shows?
We're meant to be friends
That's what it says in the script
Is it really the end
If, sometimes, I stray just a bit?
Oh no,
It should be poetry, not prose
I'm in love with you
Do you think it shows?
And everyone knows when they look at us
'Course they do, it must be obvious
I never told you, now I suppose
That you're the only one who doesn't know
You were different when
We met in an ordinary way
I didn't intend
To interrupt your own shadowplay
Oh no,
I won't upset the status quo
I'm in love with you
Do you think it shows?
And everyone knows when they look at us
'Course they do, it must be obvious
You've never asked me, and I'm surprised
That you're the only one who hasn't tried
Everyone knows when they look at us
'Course they do, it must be obvious
I never asked you, now I suppose
That you're the only one who doesn't know
Aah
When they look at us
It must be obvious
Oooh
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By donjunio
"’Behavior’ is the one that comes closest to perfection on 33 rpm."
"The masterpiece of ‘Behavior’ is certainly the poignant ‘Being Boring’, one of the peaks of pop of all time."
