Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[Lleonard Pler]

I agree, for me it's the real closer to Bilingual. More fitting and much better in sound and lyrics to SNF. The final liberation of the character in Discoteca / Bilingual / Metamorphosis. It has the same nostalgia as most of the album, but the happiness of finding your place shines through: "He is exactly where he wants to be, in a world of his own".

I remember listening to it as a b-side to A red letter day and I couldn't believe that it was left off the album. I can't understand to this day.

But it seems to be a PSB tradition to discard a true gem from each album for the most random reasons (Miserablism, I didn't get where I am today, Fugitive, Decide...). With The boy... they didn't even have the excuse that "it didn't fit the theme/sound" as it's pure Bilingual both musically and thematically.

[Gabby]

As has already been mentioned by me in recent weeks, this song is a family favourite (my wife especially) and we're really hoping for an outing of it at Obscure.

I'd never thought of it in this way, as a closer for Bilingual, but not too big a fan of SNF, so this I agree makes way more sense.

[Tom Angel]

I agree - one of the standout b-sides that should have been on the album. Their taste in their own songs is often askew.

I've always wondered who the woman skat singing was - does anyone know - she's not credited. I wonder if Neil wrote the lyrics?

There seems to be : International Club Mix (6:09) and Original version (aka "Main Vocal Mix") (5:44)

[Morse]

Track 106: The boy who couldn´t keep his clothes on?
Chronology: Bilingual, Further Listening, Track 11

I don't understand why this song wasn't on the album. It would have been a better closing track than "Saturday Night Forever." The Latin beat in the middle and the girl's backing vocals make it really catchy and fun. I prefer the intro to the B-side of "A Red Letter Day," which is different from the one included on Further Listening.

Do you know what, I genuinely love both "Saturday Night Forever" and "The Boy Who... " Although, ultimately they do two different jobs, really. “The Boy Who..." has that sly, fizzy B-side energy and probably would have made a stronger, more memorable album closer than “Saturday Night Forever” in conventional pop terms. But, that said, “Saturday Night Forever” has a kind of faded, end of night melancholy that feels very Bilingual to me. It's a bit more atmospheric and the fade out at the end reminds me of the lights coming up at the end of the night, just before the holiday romance has worn off.

It's genuinely mad how often Neil and Chris hide absolutely fantastic songs on B-sides which would quite easily fit onto any one else's album. It's like we're all privy to being in a slightly smug private members’ club.

[Patrick Bateman]

The b-sides of Bilingual are on the whole pretty decent - like others have said, this is very well suited to Bilingual's sound and could well have been on the album itself. Then you have Delusions of Grandeur (four-on-the-floor PSB), Truck Driver (anthemic) and the blossoming of Neil's Dust persona on Hit and Miss and The Calm Before the Storm, which will continue on Release. It is on the whole a very strong package and it's probably only on the next album that the quality dips significantly. Yeah, Bilingual is probably underrated.

[jasonjohn]

The giddiness of Clothes On would have been a perfect release from Before, too.

Topically, with Before and Metamorphosis, maybe they felt they'd overplayed that hand a little? But Bilingual would have benefited by ending with the extra frivolity. Maybe they could have blended Boy and Saturday together in the same way they opened the album

[davidctecno]

Track 107: A view from your balcony
Chronology: Bilingual, Further Listening, Track 13

A very nice song. A tender and observational look at urban romance and intimacy. The song's soft tone contrasts with the pure hard electronica of Disco Potencial.

[NotInvisible]

Track 107: A view from your balcony
Chronology: Bilingual, Further Listening, Track 13

Dull, presaging the nadir to come.

[rathound]

The boy....it's close to being a really great song, there's just something that doesn't quite work about it and I don't know what it is. Can see why it ended up a b-side even though I do like it. A view from your balcony - forgettable. Musically it sounds like something that would appear on a Cafe Del Mar album and just pass by without you noticing

[Lleonard Pler]

Track 107: A view from your balcony
Chronology: Bilingual, Further Listening, Track 13

A very nice song. A tender and observational look at urban romance and intimacy. The song's soft tone contrasts with the pure hard electronica of Disco Potencial.

Their attempt at elevator music. As lush as forgettable.

[Morse]

The boy....it's close to being a really great song, there's just something that doesn't quite work about it and I don't know what it is. Can see why it ended up a b-side even though I do like it. A view from your balcony - forgettable. Musically it sounds like something that would appear on a Cafe Del Mar album and just pass by without you noticing

I think it's got something to do with the character of the song - it doesn't really have one identity as such, and the concept is stronger than the result.

Neil and Chris' best songs usually have at least a combination of a killer melodic hook, a very clear emotional tone, and a lyric that pins an idea down exactly. "The Boy..." has charm, rhythm, and style, but it doesn't quite have enough sting or lift in any of those areas and the lyric never quite lands. It sort of sketches an idea rather than fully nailing it down.

Basically, it sort of saunters where it maybe needed to strut a bit more.

Doesn't stop me loving it, but I can see what you mean @rathound

[Lleonard Pler]

The boy....it's close to being a really great song, there's just something that doesn't quite work about it and I don't know what it is. Can see why it ended up a b-side even though I do like it. A view from your balcony - forgettable. Musically it sounds like something that would appear on a Cafe Del Mar album and just pass by without you noticing

I think it's got something to do with the character of the song - it doesn't really have one identity as such, and the concept is stronger than the result.

Neil and Chris' best songs usually have at least a combination of a killer melodic hook, a very clear emotional tone, and a lyric that pins an idea down exactly. "The Boy..." has charm, rhythm, and style, but it doesn't quite have enough sting or lift in any of those areas and the lyric never quite lands. It sort of sketches an idea rather than fully nailing it down.

Basically, it sort of saunters where it maybe needed to strut a bit more.

Doesn't stop me loving it, but I can see what you mean @rathound

Okay but the same could be said about SNF, which doesn't try anything special, just an old disco rehash without any soul or character... At least The boy tries to have some personality.

[Morse]

The boy....it's close to being a really great song, there's just something that doesn't quite work about it and I don't know what it is. Can see why it ended up a b-side even though I do like it. A view from your balcony - forgettable. Musically it sounds like something that would appear on a Cafe Del Mar album and just pass by without you noticing

I think it's got something to do with the character of the song - it doesn't really have one identity as such, and the concept is stronger than the result.

Neil and Chris' best songs usually have at least a combination of a killer melodic hook, a very clear emotional tone, and a lyric that pins an idea down exactly. "The Boy..." has charm, rhythm, and style, but it doesn't quite have enough sting or lift in any of those areas and the lyric never quite lands. It sort of sketches an idea rather than fully nailing it down.

Basically, it sort of saunters where it maybe needed to strut a bit more.

Doesn't stop me loving it, but I can see what you mean @rathound

Okay but the same could be said about SNF, which doesn't try anything special, just an old disco rehash without any soul or character... At least The boy tries to have some personality.

Fair point, and I probably agree that "The Boy…" has more personality than "Saturday Night Forever". I suppose my point is more that personality alone doesn’t quite get it over the line for me. It has charm and character, but never fully gets into itself as a song. "Saturday Night Forever" feels more sure of what it is, even if what it is, for some, is less interesting.

I just think personality and execution aren’t quite the same thing. "The Boy…" is more interesting, but it's also less fully formed. "Saturday Night Forever" is more generic, but is also more settled in its own skin.

[Towa]

Fair point, and I probably agree that "The Boy…" has more personality than "Saturday Night Forever". I suppose my point is more that personality alone doesn’t quite get it over the line for me. It has charm and character, but never fully gets into itself as a song. "Saturday Night Forever" feels more sure of what it is, even if what it is, for some, is less interesting.

I just think personality and execution aren’t quite the same thing. "The Boy…" is more interesting, but it's also less fully formed. "Saturday Night Forever" is more generic, but is also more settled in its own skin.

Well put, I agree — I like “The boy…” more than SNF, but SNF sounds more like an album track and less like a b-side to my ears. Difficult to explain

That said, after reading all the posts arguing that “The boy…” would fit nicely in the album, I have warmed up to that idea! …but more as in adding it to the album rather than replacing SNR. I still think that “The boy…” is b-side material, but very good such material and the production really matches the feel of the album.

[Kompakt&Bijou]

I agree with everyone's positive comments about 'The boy...' Perhaps it was left of the album because it came to Chris and Neil too easily and in their humility they didn't realise that the best things they do sometimes come the easisest. "This started off as one of Chris' demos. It's a real throwaway thing," says Neil in the FL booklet.
My other theory relates to the character of the boy himself, a real person as noted in FL. Could it be that as Bilingual is a refutation of all Britpop stood for that the Boys didn't want to give centre stage to the kind of boorish New Lad that 90s culture so celebrated?