Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[NotInvisible]

I wasn't accusing Chris of plagiarism.

No, you were - ludicrously - claiming Pet Shop Boys were heavily influenced by checks notes a song that sounds nothing like How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll. But hey, I guess it's on brand for you.

[markus]

I wasn't accusing Chris of plagiarism.

No, you were - ludicrously - claiming Pet Shop Boys were heavily influenced by checks notes a song that sounds nothing like How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll. But hey, I guess it's on brand for you.

Chris has clearly taken inspiration from those two songs — you’d have to be tone-deaf not to hear it.

[NotInvisible]

Chris has clearly taken inspiration from those two songs — you’d have to be tone-deaf not to hear it.

LMFAO

[markus]

Chris has clearly taken inspiration from those two songs — you’d have to be tone-deaf not to hear it.

LMFAO

Yeah me too.

[Xakrij]

There are a few members who should just STOP! constantly publicly posting unhealthy messages against each other in this thread. Please use the PM feature.

I've recently discovered the 'Foe' option.

[dylanww73]

There are a few members who should just STOP! constantly publicly posting unhealthy messages against each other in this thread. Please use the PM feature.

It's like a (tedious, childish) game of tennis

[NotInvisible]

It's like a (tedious, childish) game of tennis

I just have a low bar for moronic hot takes. But I should learn that when you wrestle with a pig, you both wind up in the mud, so fair enough.

[markus]

It's like a (tedious, childish) game of tennis

I just have a low bar for moronic hot takes. But I should learn that when you wrestle with a pig, you both wind up in the mud, so fair enough.

Good you let the moderators know what your intentions with the forum have been all along.

[NotInvisible]

Good you let the moderators know what your intentions with the forum have been all along.

You might want to read that one again, chief.

[markus]

Good you let the moderators know what your intentions with the forum have been all along.

You might want to read that one again, chief.

You have no place in this forum, you can shut up now.

[NotInvisible]

You have no place in this forum, you can shut up now.

What a strange little man. Off you pop.

Back to How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll - how does everyone feel about these sort of "throwaway" tracks? I'd put this in the same category as Transparent, Pazzo! and the like. I rarely come back to them.

[Dog]

You have no place in this forum, you can shut up now.

Back to How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll - how does everyone feel about these sort of "throwaway" tracks? I'd put this in the same category as Transparent, Pazzo! and the like. I rarely come back to them.

I think you’re being a little dismissive. Being anti‑rock is a classic Pet Shop Boys theme - and this song is one of their purest lyrical distillations of it.

“Someone states the obvious
Someone sneers at all you love
Someone preaches ugly manners
excluding some, including me”

“All feelings blunted, all passion spent
Everybody does what everybody does
All the broken promises
to recreate a status quo”

Neil was (and probably still is) a rock fan. But he “learned” to hate it. It’s a song about exclusion, judgement, and disillusionment. Neil is rejecting what rock became: it promised liberation but delivered conformity.

It’s also entirely plausible that rock ’n’ roll is a metaphor for heteronormative culture and masculine expectations. Neil moved from rock to pop - but he also moved from being straight to being gay. His shift in musical allegiance mirrors his deeper shift in identity.

It always reminds me of Neil’s 1992 interview with Select magazine entitled “Hate: The Power of Negative Thinking”.

There he’s saying: “Sometimes you can only define yourself by what you hate. Hatred becomes energising.”

He describes hate as creative fuel - a way to reject the herd, to rebel against sameness, to carve out individuality.

That philosophy runs through this song. It’s a critique of rock culture but it’s also a coded narrative about identity, rebellion, and the power of negative emotion to shape who you are. It’s ultimately a song about losing faith in something you once loved and finding clarity in that loss.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[markus]

You have no place in this forum, you can shut up now.

Back to How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll - how does everyone feel about these sort of "throwaway" tracks? I'd put this in the same category as Transparent, Pazzo! and the like. I rarely come back to them.

I think you’re being a little dismissive. Being anti‑rock is a classic Pet Shop Boys theme - and this song is one of their purest lyrical distillations of it.

“Someone states the obvious
Someone sneers at all you love
Someone preaches ugly manners
excluding some, including me”

“All feelings blunted, all passion spent
Everybody does what everybody does
All the broken promises
to recreate a status quo”

Neil was (and probably still is) a rock fan. But he “learned” to hate it. It’s a song about exclusion, judgement, and disillusionment. Neil is rejecting what rock became: it promised liberation but delivered conformity.

It’s also entirely plausible that rock ’n’ roll is a metaphor for heteronormative culture and masculine expectations. Neil moved from rock to pop - but he also moved from being straight to being gay. His shift in musical allegiance mirrors his deeper shift in identity.

It always reminds me of Neil’s 1992 interview with Select magazine entitled “Hate: The Power of Negative Thinking”.

There he’s saying: “Sometimes you can only define yourself by what you hate. Hatred becomes energising.”

He describes hate as creative fuel - a way to reject the herd, to rebel against sameness, to carve out individuality.

That philosophy runs through this song. It’s a critique of rock culture but it’s also a coded narrative about identity, rebellion, and the power of negative emotion to shape who you are. It’s ultimately a song about losing faith in something you once loved and finding clarity in that loss.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Absolutely brilliant.

[telys]

You have no place in this forum, you can shut up now.

Back to How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll - how does everyone feel about these sort of "throwaway" tracks? I'd put this in the same category as Transparent, Pazzo! and the like. I rarely come back to them.

I think you’re being a little dismissive. Being anti‑rock is a classic Pet Shop Boys theme - and this song is one of their purest lyrical distillations of it.

“Someone states the obvious
Someone sneers at all you love
Someone preaches ugly manners
excluding some, including me”

“All feelings blunted, all passion spent
Everybody does what everybody does
All the broken promises
to recreate a status quo”

Neil was (and probably still is) a rock fan. But he “learned” to hate it. It’s a song about exclusion, judgement, and disillusionment. Neil is rejecting what rock became: it promised liberation but delivered conformity.

It’s also entirely plausible that rock ’n’ roll is a metaphor for heteronormative culture and masculine expectations. Neil moved from rock to pop - but he also moved from being straight to being gay. His shift in musical allegiance mirrors his deeper shift in identity.

It always reminds me of Neil’s 1992 interview with Select magazine entitled “Hate: The Power of Negative Thinking”.

There he’s saying: “Sometimes you can only define yourself by what you hate. Hatred becomes energising.”

He describes hate as creative fuel - a way to reject the herd, to rebel against sameness, to carve out individuality.

That philosophy runs through this song. It’s a critique of rock culture but it’s also a coded narrative about identity, rebellion, and the power of negative emotion to shape who you are. It’s ultimately a song about losing faith in something you once loved and finding clarity in that loss.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Unfortunately it says more about Neil, or rather is idea of what rock is, than it says anything about rock music. As I've said before, this is an area where Neil is dead wrong.
I mean did he ever consider the different aspects of the heavy metal scene.

[Dog]

Back to How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll - how does everyone feel about these sort of "throwaway" tracks? I'd put this in the same category as Transparent, Pazzo! and the like. I rarely come back to them.

I think you’re being a little dismissive. Being anti‑rock is a classic Pet Shop Boys theme - and this song is one of their purest lyrical distillations of it.

“Someone states the obvious
Someone sneers at all you love
Someone preaches ugly manners
excluding some, including me”

“All feelings blunted, all passion spent
Everybody does what everybody does
All the broken promises
to recreate a status quo”

Neil was (and probably still is) a rock fan. But he “learned” to hate it. It’s a song about exclusion, judgement, and disillusionment. Neil is rejecting what rock became: it promised liberation but delivered conformity.

It’s also entirely plausible that rock ’n’ roll is a metaphor for heteronormative culture and masculine expectations. Neil moved from rock to pop - but he also moved from being straight to being gay. His shift in musical allegiance mirrors his deeper shift in identity.

It always reminds me of Neil’s 1992 interview with Select magazine entitled “Hate: The Power of Negative Thinking”.

There he’s saying: “Sometimes you can only define yourself by what you hate. Hatred becomes energising.”

He describes hate as creative fuel - a way to reject the herd, to rebel against sameness, to carve out individuality.

That philosophy runs through this song. It’s a critique of rock culture but it’s also a coded narrative about identity, rebellion, and the power of negative emotion to shape who you are. It’s ultimately a song about losing faith in something you once loved and finding clarity in that loss.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Unfortunately it says more about Neil, or rather is idea of what rock is, than it says anything about rock music. As I've said before, this is an area where Neil is dead wrong.
I mean did he ever consider the different aspects of the heavy metal scene.

Well, don’t forget Neil wrote it in the mid-90s. Maybe he’s now a massive Tool fan.