The Pet Shop Boys and the Political

[telys]

Not political?!
Actually is basically an anti-Thatcher and/or AIDS- concept album.
Agenda and Lost are political concept mini-albums
Fundamental is one of their most political albums
and it goes on and on and on.

[NotInvisible]

I don't know what a 'hot take' is in this context. Or an 'agenda'.

If you don't know what those words mean, you're probably not really in a position to be writing political nonsense.

They're my impressions and opinions. This is an internet forum.

Correct - you are free to make an ass out of yourself in public here.

[markus]

Not political?!
Actually is basically an anti-Thatcher and/or AIDS- concept album.
Agenda and Lost are political concept mini-albums
Fundamental is one of their most political albums
and it goes on and on and on.

All under the same umbrella of general intellectualism. Agenda the EP is ironic satire with several good points, not really carrying a litteral agenda itself.

[NotInvisible]

I think it’s a misconception to call them “political.”

They've written two overtly political albums, two overtly political EPs, and their canon is littered with countless other tracks dealing with politics. The dedication on Fundamental is inherently political.

[NotInvisible]

All under the same umbrella of general intellectualism.

Well... no. They are an intellectual group but they're also a political group. Something like 'We're all criminals now' is both intellectual and political - the title itself represents a political point of view, let alone the rest of the lyrics.

Agenda the EP is ironic satire with several good points, not really carrying a litteral agenda itself.

Agenda has three satirical songs that convey political perspectives: the triumph of MAGA anti-intellectualism is a bad thing; the rich are a problem; social media is eroding society. I mean:

They say democracy is simply very bad for business
While deploring student protests in the middle of Hong Kong
They insist the people have to work on zero contracts everywhere
So profit margins grow and shares are very strong

They're buying football clubs today with absolute impunity
And so much of the media to give themselves the power
To destroy the very notion and the feeling of community
While poisoning the public discourse hour by hour

They're avoiding paying taxes while the welfare state collapses
Their extravagance and arrogance, their lack of tact to balance this
Their lawyers and their attitude, the scale of their ingratitude
They only give to charity for maximum publicity

You don't think those are political statements?!

[markus]

I think it’s a misconception to call them “political.”

They've written two overtly political albums, two overtly political EPs, and their canon is littered with countless other tracks dealing with politics. The dedication on Fundamental is inherently political.

I'm not disagreeing. They could be Chumbawamba if they wanted to, but chose a more subtle distanced = philosphical approach.

[NotInvisible]

I'm not disagreeing.

So when you wrote I think it’s a misconception to call them “political” it was a typo?

If you strip out the political aspect of Pet Shop Boys you wind up with about a dozen songs.

[markus]

I'm not disagreeing.

So when you wrote I think it’s a misconception to call them “political” it was a typo?

If you strip out the political aspect of Pet Shop Boys you wind up with about a dozen songs.

It gives the wrong impression to label them as political because the political arena is a system with its own rules and limits, PSB's spectrum is much broader than that. "The pen is mightier than the sword" they say and openly pushing a political agenda often leads to heat which they probably want to avoid.

[Spittingcat]

Give us a recent example.

Political songs? Off the most recent album?

How about the song concerned with the modern day rise of the far right in Germany, where living the high life and wrapping society in a fake conservative nostalgia serves to hide the continuous line from its real dark past in the first half of the 20th Century through to support for the far right now.

And isn’t there a song about Trump? Is that one too coded for you?

[NotInvisible]

It gives the wrong impression to label them as political because the political arena is a system with its own rules and limits

Nope. Pretty much everything is political. They're an incredibly political band, with a deep catalogue of overtly political songs and even full albums.

The man at the back of the queue was sent
to feel the smack of firm government
Lingered by the fly poster for a fight
It’s the same story every night
I’ve been hurt and we’ve been had
You leave home and you don’t go back

This is an inherently political lyric, for example. You can't escape it.

You seem think be confusing "doesn't endorse a specific candidate or party" with "not political" but that couldn't be further from the truth. Their last song is Hymn, for crying out loud!

We're buying and selling your history
How we go about it is no mystery

I heard about it in the House of Commons
Everything's for sale

I mean, come on, man.

[NotInvisible]

Political songs? Off the most recent album?

I’m starting a new life
in a world far away
from the people who brought me up
and I disobey

Won’t be long
till I have to get out of here
and live my invented life
Well already that’s pretty queer

New London boys
can’t afford to be scared
You take it on the chin
and win in your head
Skinheads will mock you
call you a fag
Last laugh is yours
There’s a brick in your bag

Jumped the barrier at Orly Airport
Claimed political asylum there
Took all the KGB boys by surprise
I think they thought that you would never dare
But you knew you had to take a risk
You broke the rules over and over again
A fiery talent with a reputation
A trouble-maker among sombre men

Where have they gone, les Petites Bon-Bons?
Who dances now to their sweet old song?
I wish I lived my life free-and-easier
I need to find a new Bohemia

If you think you’re going down
in hazel, black and brown
You need some happy music
when winter comes around

Never trust your memories
Say a sentimental farewell
The leader of the Schlager band
he knows but he won’t tell

The future is forever
Let’s not dwell on the past
Gesundheit to Europa!
Let’s hope it’s gonna last

Laughter and forgetting
whatever was betrayed
What happened never happened
in the Schlager hit parade

I’ve got eyes in the back of my head
for anything suspicious
and if my number’s up
I’ll take a bullet for Narcissus

This narcissus, his power is his dream
His politics are simply mean
He doesn’t trust what he hasn’t seen
He’s so banal, he’s made it mainstream

I see the tension in his eyes
The accusations he denies
I wonder if he’s realised
that right behind him he’s despised

As I survey the big event
people think he’s heaven-sent
Devoted crowds who chant his name
I sometimes think he lives for fame

Oh Narcissus
It’s so delicious
to watch his make-up run
He sweats and panicky
fakes reality
He only cares for number one

Love is the law
but you can’t regulate it

Television man is crazy
saying we’re juvenile delinquent wrecks
Oh, man, I need TV when I got T‑Rex
Brother, you guessed, I’m a dude, dad

Now Lucy looks sweet ’cause he dresses like a queen
but she can kick like a mule, it’s a real mean team

Hey, you!
You with the glasses!
I want you
I’m a dude, dad

At the dark end of the street
That’s where we always meet
Hiding in shadows where we don’t belong
Living in darkness to hide our wrong

I know time is gonna take its toll
We have to pay for the love we stole
It’s a sin and we know it’s wrong
Oh, but our love keeps coming on strong

And when the daylight hours roll ’round
and by chance we’re both downtown
If we should meet, just walk on by
Oh, darling, please, please don’t cry
Tonight, we’ll meet
at the dark end of the street

As bombs were falling
I was trying to avoid
all the crashing bores
that history’s deployed
to try to reconcile us
to the pointlessness of life

Party in the blitz
More drinking
Losing everything
Dick shrinking
Getting off your tits
Who’s cares now?
Anyone who did
is dead now

It’s not enough to succeed
others must fail
There is your mantra
bitter and stale
It’s not enough that you win
others must lose
Dreams have to die
What’s your excuse?
I’ve seen right through you

I’ve seen right through you
I know what you are
and how fake the compassion
in your repertoire

The power grabs so bald
The envy so crude
Your obsession with status
The violent moods

I was drifting through
an ancient town
speaking schoolboy French
listening to the avant garde
trying to make sense
Though everything
was falling apart

In these imminent dark ages
if you find it too bizarre
and nothing
seems to make sense any more
just remember who you are

If Jesus had a sister
would she bring him down to earth?
Say “Jesus, I’m your sister
I can say for what it’s worth
You might find immortality
but what’s the good of that to you?
Your father is a carpenter
why don’t you get a trade too?”

Climbing up a mountain
preaching to one and all
It might sound like a humble sermon
but pride comes before a fall

Love is all I want to see
Now I want you here with me
through the morning, afternoon
All night long is none too soon
And, oh, we’ve got the time, we’ve got the time
And, oh, it’s not a crime, it’s not a crime

Beauty has laid siege to the city
The ugly are fighting back
passing laws
enforced by bores
Beauty is under attack

What do people think these lyrics are implying?

[Patrick Bateman]

They're avoiding paying taxes while the welfare state collapses
Their extravagance and arrogance, their lack of tact to balance this
Their lawyers and their attitude, the scale of their ingratitude
They only give to charity for maximum publicity

Don't vote for Corbyn though!

[jasonjohn]

A look, a gathering of all the usual suspects

[markus]

It gives the wrong impression to label them as political because the political arena is a system with its own rules and limits

Nope. Pretty much everything is political. They're an incredibly political band, with a deep catalogue of overtly political songs and even full albums.

The man at the back of the queue was sent
to feel the smack of firm government
Lingered by the fly poster for a fight
It’s the same story every night
I’ve been hurt and we’ve been had
You leave home and you don’t go back

This is an inherently political lyric, for example. You can't escape it.

You seem think be confusing "doesn't endorse a specific candidate or party" with "not political" but that couldn't be further from the truth. Their last song is Hymn, for crying out loud!

We're buying and selling your history
How we go about it is no mystery

I heard about it in the House of Commons
Everything's for sale

I mean, come on, man.

My point is quite the opposite to what you're hearing: they're more powerful and influential being intellectuals both inside and outside the political arena. Being "political" means they leave ruling the world up to the politicians. Being intellectuals instead they affect peoples core values and help shape the world, they control even the politicans from above.

[NotInvisible]

My point is quite the opposite to what you're hearing: they're more powerful and influential being intellectuals both inside and outside the political arena. Being "political" means they leave ruling the world up to the politicians. Being intellectuals instead they affect peoples core values and help shape the world, they control even the politicans from above.

I'm going to assume this is a translation issue, because they quite clearly write politically.