Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[Capsigrany]

A very good song but the vocals are badly recorded/engineered in my opinion (except for the final part with the female harmonies). Loved it when they played it live with an orchestra, it was fabulous and it achieved the high point the song deserves. I think the album version deserved a bit of rethinking to achieve that level but it’s a fantastic pop song anyway.

[NotInvisible]

FWIW there isn't an intentional gay subtext to The Survivors, despite claims upthread. Neil: "It’s about growing old, and that, when you’ve reached a certain age, you’ve survived this far. You’re still alive. A friend of mine committed suicide early that year, which I was rather depressed about. She’s referred to in the song, where I sing ‘teachers and artists and Saturday girls’." I suppose one thing they struggle with is fans constantly assuming various songs carry a gay subtext, which has frustrated Neil in the past.

I love the error at the end where he sings "race" twice.

[petshopgrrl]

FWIW there isn't an intentional gay subtext to The Survivors, despite claims upthread. Neil: "It’s about growing old, and that, when you’ve reached a certain age, you’ve survived this far. You’re still alive. A friend of mine committed suicide early that year, which I was rather depressed about. She’s referred to in the song, where I sing ‘teachers and artists and Saturday girls’." I suppose one thing they struggle with is fans constantly assuming various songs carry a gay subtext, which has frustrated Neil in the past.

I love the error at the end where he sings "race" twice.

I've never thought of that as a mistake. I just assumed it was an intentional echo. On closer listen, it sounds as though he double tracked the vocal and sang "race" in two different ways (one on beat, one with a beat pause) across the two beats.

The only remotely gay subtext is that the teacher is Neil's friend Chris Dowell and the artist is Derek Jarman (he of the - I always love this assignation - "Derek Jarman tour"), both of whom died of AIDS-related illnesses. Otherwise it's a very ordinary sentiment - a song about losing loved ones, grieving with your friends and realizing it'll be you in the box one day. (The Saturday Girl is Kimberley Leston, the Smash Hits designer who worked with Neil on the US launch of Star Hits and sadly committed suicide.) My favorite line is "Many roads will cross/run through many lives". We never know the impact we're all going to have on each other, and how it could potentially reverberate across the years.

Loved it when they played it live with an orchestra, it was fabulous and it achieved the high point the song deserves.

Yes, it was a gorgeous rendition. This has one of PSB's best choruses ever. Definitely could be whistled by a cabbie.

[Dog]

It’s worth remembering that Neil and Chris both lost many friends to AIDS in the late 80s / early 90s. By the mid‑90s, new treatments were finally emerging, and for many gay people it must have felt like a fragile turning point - a time when simply being alive meant you were, quite literally, a survivor.

The “warmth and light” is the Heaven nightclub - the embrace of friends and community after a cold day potentially attending yet another funeral of a friend. A counterpoint to grief.

The lyric: “our heads bowed / at memorials / for other faces in the crowd” I find particularly touching - it feels like a wider tribute - not just to specific friends as mentioned - but to everyone that didn’t make it.

[TallThinMan]

It's a beautiful song, one of their best I think. I never made the connection to the Heaven nightclub before.

The "twinsets and pearls" line is a classic, from the same school as "Mother’s got her hairdo to be done" and "among the books and pens and reading glasses". Neil is a master at evoking down-to-earth domesticity.

[psbnyc]

I love this song so much, and turn to it very often. Very moving. Really hope for this during the Obscure concerts…..

[NotInvisible]

It’s worth remembering that Neil and Chris both lost many friends to AIDS in the late 80s / early 90s. By the mid‑90s, new treatments were finally emerging, and for many gay people it must have felt like a fragile turning point - a time when simply being alive meant you were, quite literally, a survivor.

Agreed, and there are a number of PSB tracks that are directly about that. Neil claims The Survivors is about something broader, though.

[Drico One]

This thread is so much better when it focuses on the songs. I don't mind the odd diversion - that's the train of conversation after all - but let's try to keep the songs front and centre, in general. There's been a little too much derailment for my liking at times, but this last page or so has been lovely. I don't want to have to moderate it, so a little common sense would be appreciated.

[Dog]

It’s worth remembering that Neil and Chris both lost many friends to AIDS in the late 80s / early 90s. By the mid‑90s, new treatments were finally emerging, and for many gay people it must have felt like a fragile turning point - a time when simply being alive meant you were, quite literally, a survivor.

Agreed, and there are a number of PSB tracks that are directly about that. Neil claims The Survivors is about something broader, though.

Yes, it’s both about surviving AIDS, and about surviving life more broadly, inspired by the suicide of a friend. It’s also a partner to Discoteca’s “going out and carrying on as normal”; also about AIDS. Listen to them as a pair and you first hear the horror and the trauma, and then the guilt, and finally the hope and encouragement. With Bilingual, Neil is clearly still processing his recent past and trying to use his experiences to help others.

[Gabby]

Musically "The Survivors" seems quite similar to "Liberation" to me. I totally understand the meaning, sentiment, the incredibly powerful context of the song, but unfortunately it doesn't really do a great deal for me.

File it under "I appreciate the fact that this is a great song, but unfortunately it's just not my cup of tea."

[leesmapman]

A very good song but the vocals are badly recorded/engineered in my opinion (except for the final part with the female harmonies). Loved it when they played it live with an orchestra, it was fabulous and it achieved the high point the song deserves. I think the album version deserved a bit of rethinking to achieve that level but it’s a fantastic pop song anyway.

That 2012 live version was the moment I really appreciated the song.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-A528B met Tapatalk

[markus]

Well, Neil said it was the song that he most regrets not releasing as a single, so perhaps the intention was to remix it eventually.

It’s a brilliant track, classic PSB. Wouldn’t have been out of place on Behaviour, although that’s not necessarily a pop endorsement in 1996. One of the best bridges of their career!

It does — or at least used to — have that Being Boring-level cult status among some fans. As far as I know, it’s not just because of the AIDS context, but because it feels deeply personal and meaningful to a lot of people.

[Drico One]

The Survivors sums up this period of Pet Shop Boys for me: a really good song married to a very twee production. There is so much beauty in the song itself, in the melody, bridge, and lyric - yet it is accompanied by a cloying, middle of the road mawkishness that makes it all sound a bit prim.

I don't think it ever fully recovers from the opening bars, which is a pity because the harmonies are lovely and some of the wordplay is masterful. "Look around, picture what's in store, is this the final edit or is the subject now a bore?" will always remind me of doing my post graduate degree. Perhaps that's part of the problem: it's all a bit too wine and cheese board to me.

Drico.

[NotInvisible]

Yes, it’s both about surviving AIDS, and about surviving life more broadly, inspired by the suicide of a friend.

I don't disagree that AIDS informs Neil's life experiences, but I'm inclined to listen to artists when they say what their songs are about.

[Dog]

Yes, it’s both about surviving AIDS, and about surviving life more broadly, inspired by the suicide of a friend.

I don't disagree that AIDS informs Neil's life experiences, but I'm inclined to listen to artists when they say what their songs are about.

One Hundred Lyrics And A Poem:

“It seemed that the end of the AIDS epidemic might be in sight thanks to recently introduced medication. I also attended the funeral of a friend who’d committed suicide, which led to this meditation on being a survivor.”

The Advocate, 1996:

“If you’re 40, whether you’re straight or gay, you can look around at the people you used to know, and they’re just simply not all there anymore. And when you know a lot of people who have died, particularly of AIDS, you have this sort of guilt feeling that you’re still there. That’s what the song is about, really.”

https://medium.com/artmagazine/remember ... 1a3a7d0b42

“Even before Bilingual was released, the Boys had described this song as a response of sorts to the recurring rumors that one or both of them were HIV-positive or had AIDS.”

www.geowayne.com/newDesign/lists/aids.htm