Ever since I first heard the Pet Shop Boys when I was much younger, I was a fan. There was something about the varied electronic instrumentation by Chris Lowe, and the highly eloquent and dramatic lyrics by Neil Tennant that made me instantly infatuated with the group’s music.
To this day, the Pet Shop Boys are one of those bands whose discography doesn’t include a single bad song in my opinion, and I still find myself listening to their music as a means to escape from anxiety.
While I believe that it was the ’80s in which the band’s music was at its best, the ’90s gave rise to a slightly more worldly version of the group, as they experimented with new instrumentation, new lyrical themes, and above all, a new approach to music at times.
In 1993, the band released the album Very, and among its themes was the topic of frontman Neil Tennant addressing his long-rumoured homosexuality. In fact, the very first song on the album, ‘Can You Forgive Her?’ speaks of this in spades. Using literary references (including the title being taken from a novel of the same name by Anthony Trollope), the tune focuses on the humiliation felt by a young man when his new girlfriend accuses him of being in love with a male childhood friend.
It’s one of those songs which features a story so esoteric that it would be unlikely for anyone to be able to relate to it, however the passionate deliver from Tennant and the flashy instrumentation from Lowe make it into a track that almost anyone can relate to, regardless of background, gender, or orientation. It’s pretty nifty how that works out.
Sounds Of The Radio 