Pet Shop Boys Community

Sorry if this has been covered before. I was giving Very a fresh listen today and despite having listened to it many, many times, today I heard it in a totally different way.

It holds together as a concept album of a man's lived journey of sexual discovery, love, loss, health scare, insecurity, hitting rock bottom and coming out the other side with new love and fresh prospects of life and prosperity.

Anyone else?

Everything has/is a concept, isn‘t it???

Isn't the concept "a shiny pop album" with a unique graphic concept as a reaction to the then current zeitgeist.?

Very is so… very!

Neil has talked about quite a few PSB albums as being “journeys” of sorts… with the kind of narrative you describe, from the first to the last track. Please, Bilingual and Nightlife specifically… But you can definitely project onto some of the others too, and I get what you mean for Very. Their opening tracks often pose a question of sorts or describe a particular situation or circumstance - and their closing tracks are often resolutions.

I think the first four songs do fit together as a kind of mini-narrative of a man's journey from coming out, falling in love, being in a relationship and the relationship breaking up. After that I don't think the narrative quite holds up, although the themes you mention are definitely explored throughout the album.

They still have that great London record to do. Well, anyone of us could compile tracks for a London themed album by using songs from different eras. The Theatre and DOTQ are London tracks on Very. I guess Please is set in London but most of the songs are generic when it comes to geography.

telys wrote: Fri 26 Jan 2024, 11:15 am They still have that great London record to do. Well, anyone of us could compile tracks for a London themed album by using songs from different eras. The Theatre and DOTQ are London tracks on Very. I guess Please is set in London but most of the songs are generic when it comes to geography.

London would fit on that one, I suppose.

A London-themed compilation / playlist:

1. West End Girls
2. Suburbia
3. Shopping
4. King's Cross
5. Dreaming of the Queen
6. The Theatre
7. To speak is a sin
8. The Survivors (hence: "... past Embankment Gardens...")
9. London

My London playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LE7m ... XyOnKLRdSl

1. London
2. West End girls
3. King’s Cross
4. Brick England
5. The theatre
6. Shopping
7. The Resurrectionist
8. Bright Young Things
9. Requiem in denim and leopardskin
10. Nothing has been proved
11. The view from your balcony
12. The ghost of myself
13. Out of my system
14. The Survivors
15. Love is a bourgeois construct
16. The Former Enfant Terrible
17. Something special
18. In his imagination
19. The Pop Kids
20. Do I have to?
21. That’s my impression
22. We’re all criminals now
23. Up against it
24. Hoping for a miracle
25. Hit music

102dB wrote: Fri 26 Jan 2024, 12:45 pm A London-themed compilation / playlist:

1. West End Girls
2. Suburbia
3. Shopping
4. King's Cross
5. Dreaming of the Queen
6. The Theatre
7. To speak is a sin
8. The Survivors (hence: "... past Embankment Gardens...")
9. London

The Resurrectionist too...

Dog wrote: Mon 29 Jan 2024, 6:49 pm My London playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LE7m ... XyOnKLRdSl

1. London
2. West End girls
3. King’s Cross
4. Brick England
5. The theatre
6. Shopping
7. The Resurrectionist
8. Bright Young Things
9. Requiem in denim and leopardskin
10. Nothing has been proved
11. The view from your balcony
12. The ghost of myself
13. Out of my system
14. The Survivors
15. Love is a bourgeois construct
16. The Former Enfant Terrible
17. Something special
18. In his imagination
19. The Pop Kids
20. Do I have to?
21. That’s my impression
22. We’re all criminals now
23. Up against it
24. Hoping for a miracle
25. Hit music

What's Construct, Out of My System, Do I have to and Something Special got to do with London?

Ghost within this house wrote: Mon 29 Jan 2024, 7:14 pm

102dB wrote: Fri 26 Jan 2024, 12:45 pm A London-themed compilation / playlist:

1. West End Girls
2. Suburbia
3. Shopping
4. King's Cross
5. Dreaming of the Queen
6. The Theatre
7. To speak is a sin
8. The Survivors (hence: "... past Embankment Gardens...")
9. London

The Resurrectionist too...

What has Shopping to do with London? "House of commons"? But that's Nothing particular, it's a national parliament.

telys wrote:

Dog wrote: Mon 29 Jan 2024, 6:49 pm My London playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LE7m ... XyOnKLRdSl

1. London
2. West End girls
3. King’s Cross
4. Brick England
5. The theatre
6. Shopping
7. The Resurrectionist
8. Bright Young Things
9. Requiem in denim and leopardskin
10. Nothing has been proved
11. The view from your balcony
12. The ghost of myself
13. Out of my system
14. The Survivors
15. Love is a bourgeois construct
16. The Former Enfant Terrible
17. Something special
18. In his imagination
19. The Pop Kids
20. Do I have to?
21. That’s my impression
22. We’re all criminals now
23. Up against it
24. Hoping for a miracle
25. Hit music

What's Construct, Out of My System, Do I have to and Something Special got to do with London?

They all mention London landmarks, streets or areas.

Dog wrote: Tue 30 Jan 2024, 7:43 am

telys wrote:

Dog wrote: Mon 29 Jan 2024, 6:49 pm My London playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LE7m ... XyOnKLRdSl

1. London
2. West End girls
3. King’s Cross
4. Brick England
5. The theatre
6. Shopping
7. The Resurrectionist
8. Bright Young Things
9. Requiem in denim and leopardskin
10. Nothing has been proved
11. The view from your balcony
12. The ghost of myself
13. Out of my system
14. The Survivors
15. Love is a bourgeois construct
16. The Former Enfant Terrible
17. Something special
18. In his imagination
19. The Pop Kids
20. Do I have to?
21. That’s my impression
22. We’re all criminals now
23. Up against it
24. Hoping for a miracle
25. Hit music

What's Construct, Out of My System, Do I have to and Something Special got to do with London?

They all mention London landmarks, streets or areas.

Hang on, just mentioning something that happens to be located in London doesn't make a song "London themed". They mention Scotland Yard in Do I Have To but it's the police the lyric is refering to, not an actual street och building and theme of Do I Have To is not London but a (broken) relationship. The list needs to be revised. Love is a B Construct isn't particular London themed, neither is Hit Music. Nothing Has Been Proved is a about a national/international political scandal... not about London, neither is The Survivors.
Below is my revised list

(1. London), uncertain. Title is London but the song is about something else. And to have a song called London on a concept album about London is a little bit non-PSB.
2. West End girls
3. King’s Cross
4. Brick England
5. The theatre
7. The Resurrectionist
8. Bright Young Things
9. Requiem in denim and leopardskin
11. The view from your balcony
12. The ghost of myself
18. In his imagination
19. The Pop Kids
21. That’s my impression
22. We’re all criminals now
24. Hoping for a miracle