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Rating: My review is a sort of personal tribute I wanted to make to the Pet Shop Boys, the famous English electro-pop/dance duo composed of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.
They became famous in the second half of the '80s, thanks also to the success of hits such as "West End Girls," "It's A Sin," and "Rent." The single I want to talk about is "Being Boring," the second release from the album "Behaviour" published in 1990.
It's a song that profoundly marked a period of my life (the memories related to high school graduation and the senior trip to Barcelona), and with this track, I got to know them at that moment.
As for the version published in the album, it's a notably long piece (6:48), introduced by a one-minute intro characterized by keyboard pads that envelop and introduce the listener to the first verses of Tennant; verses that immediately convey the emotions that the track will evoke (nostalgia, reflection, sadness, and many memories).
It begins with nostalgic singing ("I came across a cache of old photos and invitations to teenage parties"), and through various reflections, the issue of AIDS is also touched upon ("Some are here and some are missing... in the 1990's"), since the song was dedicated to a friend of Tennant's who died from that disease (and in this context, probably "But I thought in spite of dreams you’d be sitting somewhere here with me" is the peak of the composition).
For those who don't know it, don't expect the classic "danceable" Pet Shop Boys song, but it's nonetheless a fundamental piece in their discography and one of the fans' most beloved hits.
Perhaps it’s the unique reflections and emotions conveyed that allow the piece to remain extraordinary over time, continuing to amaze and not bore after repeated listens.
After all, as they sing in this masterpiece, "We were never being boring cos we were never being bored."
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Being Boring (04:53)
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
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