Pet Shop Boys Community

I just had a couple of listens to Extended mix of Paninaro '95 and had a revelation.
When the single came out I was disappointed by the PSB Extended mix. Although it was their own mix, I felt it didn't have enough of the original song in it. But now I came to see the point. Paninaro '95 originated as a new mix of Paninaro on their '94 tour. So the song has its origin by the time Chris' Peter died which is indicated by the new lyrics "Now you've/you're gone, I'm all alone...".
The live version and the '95 -single align themselves with the style of the original version which almost can be mistaken for a novelty song (quotes from a tv interview, title about some alleged italian sub-culture and lyrics mostly consisting of a list of things). But it's not.
The '95 extended mix proves that this was a love song. A love song to club and dance to. So the extended mix is what happens after this is possible no more because of death.
The first 2:30 minutes consist of a riff without any happiness. I'm no musicologist but it reminds of classical music.
3:30-3:45 we hear the sad chords revealing themselves.
3:45-3:55 the first lyrics, and they are the new ones about loss (death) and mourning and about moving on.
3:55-6:00 the sad chords and toned down riff continues
6:00-6:40 the original lyrics sung but in a very downbeat way
6:40-End. We get the french horn-riff for the first time, for the first time something more "happy".
So to me, this sounds like a requiem, something to be played at a funeral.

A nice mix, but personally I prefer the Tin Tin out remix, which is a great mix.

Well, my point is not about which mix we might prefer but the completely different nature of the Extended mix compared to the 7'' mix.

'You. You were my lover...'
That stayed with me for a while after first listen.

I feel Paninaro (even in it's original iteration) has a surprising amount of depth. I know people from back in the day who really didn't give it any credit - I liken it to people who didn't "get" Shopping and couldn't hear the lyrics beyond the spelled out chorus. The banality (which I actually disagree it is) hides something much more profound.

The '95 version adds that personal layer for Chris which gives it different depth and meaning, changing it from an anthem (or a call to arms if you will) to youth culture, into a deeply tragic/melancholy soundtrack to happier times and a wish to go back to them.

I was disappointed with the Paninaro 95 remixes generally. I'm a bit of a sucker for the old style extended mixes from yesteryear rather than a remix being too much of a rework of the track. A song with so much remix potential, and the 95 remixes were pretty underwhelming. Thankfully they still did a banger job on the single version.

Gabby wrote: Tue 30 Dec 2025, 7:25 pm I was disappointed with the Paninaro 95 remixes generally. I'm a bit of a sucker for the old style extended mixes from yesteryear rather than a remix being too much of a rework of the track. A song with so much remix potential, and the 95 remixes were pretty underwhelming. Thankfully they still did a banger job on the single version.

Same for me until I realised that the Extended Mix is so much more.

Gabby wrote: Tue 30 Dec 2025, 7:25 pm The '95 version adds that personal layer for Chris which gives it different depth and meaning, changing it from an anthem (or a call to arms if you will) to youth culture, into a deeply tragic/melancholy soundtrack to happier times and a wish to go back to them.

Very nice description. But I would say that Paninaro '85 is not an anthem to youth culture. Only the title and a word in the chorus is about that... which sort of ventures into the land of novelty songs. But the music and lyrics are something different.

telys wrote: Tue 30 Dec 2025, 4:00 pm a riff without any happiness

telys wrote: Tue 30 Dec 2025, 4:00 pm I'm no musicologist

Well that’s definitely an understatement. Thank you for sharing your perspective, but you might’ve overthought this one.

Greetings,

Well you've prompted me to take a listen for the first time in years, after being underwhelmed by it previously. Listening to it now, it sounds to me like they wanted to explore the sound palette of the new elements of the 95 version a bit further, outside the confines of a four minute pop record. Not with any dancefloor intent, mind you, but in the spirit of Relentless.

Thanks for the prompt Telys.

Retro.

Definitely. It’s like postcript.

Oh yes, it's clearly about Pete.

And the Extended mix is missing from Further Listening. Just one of many tracks available for a long awaited Expanded Further Listening (EFL).

I did a pretty extensive analysis expanding on this subject like a year ago when I did the unboxing of the remix 12"s. It's in Spanish but you can turn automatic subtitles on, they're pretty good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baAQyln ... x9V4AaABAg

lalolalo wrote: Fri 02 Jan 2026, 12:45 pm I did a pretty extensive analysis expanding on this subject like a year ago when I did the unboxing of the remix 12"s. It's in Spanish but you can turn automatic subtitles on, they're pretty good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baAQyln ... x9V4AaABAg

No te preocupes, I learnt spanish from an argentinian girl when I was 19

telys wrote: Fri 02 Jan 2026, 2:36 pm

lalolalo wrote: Fri 02 Jan 2026, 12:45 pm I did a pretty extensive analysis expanding on this subject like a year ago when I did the unboxing of the remix 12"s. It's in Spanish but you can turn automatic subtitles on, they're pretty good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baAQyln ... x9V4AaABAg

No te preocupes, I learnt spanish from an argentinian girl when I was 19

sounds like the same way I learned French!