In spring 1986 after hearing the phenomenal "West End Girls", I immediately bought the debut album Please by The Pet Shop Boys. I wore out the cassette.
I grew up in a suburban neighbourhood full of barking dogs and bored teenagers similar to the one the Pet Shop Boys sang about in “Suburbia”.
Back in the mid-80s most suburban kids I grew up with (including my brother) rebelled with metal.
I preferred electronic tunes like “Suburbia” and dreamed of leaving the white picket fences and manicured lawns of Dartmouth. I always wanted to move to the city, not just Halifax, but somewhere even bigger. That became Vancouver and is another story.
I preferred electronic tunes like “Suburbia” and dreamed of leaving the white picket fences and manicured lawns of Dartmouth. I always wanted to move to the city, not just Halifax, but somewhere even bigger. That became Vancouver and is another story.
“Suburbia” pulls me in with a yearning piano melody. The Boys admit to lifting the bassline from Madonna's "Into the Groove", so there's that too. The sample of dogs barking is particularly nostalgic.
The melody may sound somewhat whimsical but the bridge hints at resentment: "I only wanted something else to do but hang around".
Fave lyrics: "Leeeeeeet's take a ride, and run with the dogs tonight"
An excellent live version from their 2009 tour is worth the view:
It is very rare I hear good things about the burbs but many people live there, that has always confused me. Of course many things confuse me. A good Pet Shop Boys song.
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