The Popular Music and History of the ’90s class elected to study Behaviour by the Pet Shop Boys for their 1990 LP. Coming after a series of acclaimed, dance-focused albums in the ’80s, the somber Behaviour did not sell well, marking the end of the duo’s “imperial phase.” Three decades later, Behaviour is considered one of the Pet Shop Boys’ finest albums. Below, three students from the class dissect the album, track by track.
“Being Boring”
This song is undoubtedly my favorite song on the album. The track is a beautiful mournful eulogy hidden behind a sparkling synth track and quick drums, producing a contrasted picture of serenity in sound and tragedy in meaning. Though the song starts with a long instrumental, a “red herring” of “ominous synths and unsure bassline wobbling over James Brown’s “Funky Drummer’ loop,” as per the Quietus article by Fergal Kinney, it quickly steadies itself with the first synth strings flourish, and flows into soft lyrics which reflect on teenage carelessness and parties, where worries lie in what to wear and never that “time would come to an end.” The vast majority of the beauty and pain of this song lies within the lyrics, which paint a vivid image of growing up and navigating youth as a gay man, and coming into the AIDS crisis in early adulthood. Neil Tennant sings of “bolt[ing] through a closing door,” referring to leaving his unaccepting small town home to pursue the life and freedom he had dreamed of in adolescence, with an air of hope in his voice and a confirmation of freedom found in the following line, stating, “I would never find myself being bored.” In the following verse, however, Tennant flows into the most striking line of the song, “All the people I was kissing/ Some are here, and some are missing,” a blatant expression of the loss felt during the AIDS crisis, as lovers and friends were simply “missing”, not surviving into the future Tennant sings of. Though Tennant himself has won his battle and survived to be “the creature that [he] always meant to be,” like many gay men at the time, he finds himself without companionship of a friend he thought would surely “be sitting somewhere here with me,” referring to his childhood friend Christopher Dowell, who died of the illness shortly into the writing of the album. The grief within this song is palpable. It’s amazing to me how many people never realized the subject matter. – Valentine Lamkin
“This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave”
This track opens much heavier than the first, having some intense percussive synth reminiscent of the mid-’80s from the get-go. That is not to say that this song is isolated from the former; it holds onto Tennant’s unique talky sobering vocal quality. It also shows his unique Northern tonality, especially during the chorus when he says, “This must be the place I waited years to leave.” Many English artists in years past, especially Northerners, have subdued their accents for more commercial success overseas. This is one of the many aspects that I think separates the Pet Shop Boys as not only British artists but also as a pop duo. The melody is simple and bright, yet maintains a sentimental quality. These first two tracks mark the dreamy above-the-clouds space that the entire album will stay and mingle amongst for the most part. – Mayumi Schreiber
“To Face the Truth”
Not quite a love song and not quite a break up song, the third song on Behaviour has complex and yet contradicting emotions. Firstly, Tennant sings with a certain tenderness and love of a partner who is not faithful. Mixed in with these emotions are disappointment and unacceptance. Tennant does not want to face the reality he knows must be happening. It is almost the opposite of an unreliable narrator — he wishes that he were just making things up. Additionally, truth comes up as a prominent topic, and what one does with it. It doesn’t seem like Tennant knows what to do with the truth he finds, and he knows he must do something but his identity and life is wrapped up with this other person who has lied and hurt him. I liked this song because the instrumentation was more colorful, mirroring the colorful and complexity of emotions conveyed through the lyrics. Additionally, though repetitive, this song was not short and allowed you to really mull over the experience almost as one who had been cheated on would mull over their partner’s actions. – Will Barr
“How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?”
Just when Tennant and Chris Lowe lull you into a relaxed sleepy somber state, they come right at you on the attack with a classic ’80s synth snare and an intense rumbling guitar in between verses. Not only do they come at you but they also are coming at artists like Bono, Sting and Morrissey, criticizing them for subscribing to the trendiest of causes to boost their platform and opinion of the public. “How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously” has as much bite as its message. It also follows a lovely catchy bouncy pop melody making it the most grounded song of the 10. It also implements some eclectic jangly percussion and some fun horn fills diversifying the sound and showing the power of pop to pull from so much. – MS
“Only the Wind”
Similar to “To Face The Truth” but with a bit more bite, “Only the Wind” opens with some smooth rolling commercial-friendly sound. It’s light and smooth but stays solid with that classic snare and steady click beat. From a vocal perspective, Tennant sounds more theatrical and emotive than in other songs. It may even reflect influences from his work with Liza Minelli and Dusty Springfield who he’s credited with some of his vocal expansion later in his career. It has a ballad quality and seems like it could be put in a modernist sci-fi musical. The song ends winding us down with that same rolling clicky high hat beat like a gas oven turning on with some slow crossfade out. – MS
“My October Symphony”
This song comes in as another striking presence from the beginning, starting with a muffled chant before smoothing into the soft R&B inspired background vocal harmonies. I absolutely love these background vocals– they almost sound like a synth upon first listen due to their smoothness, and they add such an interesting layer under the beat and piano. The guitar tone of this song is also fantastic, it sounds so laid back, especially in the distortion and shakes. The strings come in as a surprise, but slot their way right into the busy but never too crowded instrumental. I love the subtle vocal effects here on the end of some lines too, and the collaboration with the Balanescu String Quartet brings this song from enjoyable to fantastic. The string instruments after that amazing guitar riff tie this song up with its own distinctive bow, and close on a note not to be forgotten. This song displays the band’s vast ability to write about greatly varied topics, carrying much of the October feeling of the album, and is one I find myself compelled to come back to frequently. – VL
“So Hard”
This is a very jarring song, the lyrics edgy and seductive. This song sounds like a spy movie soundtrack. Dealing with the complexity of long standing relationships that require work and that are not always smooth, Tennant sings with a mature awareness. The question in this song is not “why do we do the things that hurt others” but rather “why do we do the things we know will hurt others.” Hurting others ultimately makes life harder for ourselves, its a conundrum why the cycle continues. This song seems to refer to two people who made mutual mistakes. The lyrics, “I double-cross you, And you get mysterious mail” refer to what the singer did to the addressee, but the story does not end here. Additionally the lyrics further along in the song go, “If you give up your affairs forever, I will give up mine.” There is a longing for closure and progress that likely will not come, this song seems hopeful yet pessimistic. – WB
“Nervously”
This song captures a very specific moment and emotion. The vocals here are more intimate and take center stage in the piece of music. The emotions here are mainly ones of novelty and agitation but not in a necessarily negative way. There’s a nostalgia at remembering these emotions and the experiences that brought them on that go along with other songs in the album. The song, while referring to a very specific thing, does not use specific language. Like a memory, there is a blurriness and imprecision that adds to the quality of recollection. There’s almost a sense that this memory is of a missed opportunity or a relationship which went nowhere. – WB
“The End of the World”
This song is designed directly to use the same robotic type of twinkle sound in the beginning and doesn’t give you space in between. Despite the fatalist title, we get thrown into a Mario Kart-esque pop beat. It’s fun. It’s light. It’s dancy. The lyrics don’t reflect this whatsoever: “Floods of tears and doors slamming/ Stamping feet across the landing.” This song shows Tennant and Lowe’s ages in the best way possible. It provides wisdom and a feeling of optimism and moving on from hardship. They quite literally tell their audience that “It’s not the end of the world.” It also sounds kind and guiding rather than the common condescension that comes with the phrase. In some ways, I find that the messages on the album have a paternalistic message. – MS
“Jealousy”
An album as big of a stylized performance as this one truly needs a fulfilling ending, and this song does the job. The soaring synths and walkdown of piano are both fantastic tools of this song, adding a flair to the beautiful lyrics which reflect on Tennant’s nature of reflection and excessive thinking, lyrics like “Where’ve you been/ Who’ve you seen” calling back to notions of anxiety and jealousy mentioned earlier in the album. This song ends with a grand chorus of vocals, horns and harp strums, ending the album with a dramatic, performative flair which feels like the end of a grand theater show. – VL
