Being Boring
| "Being Boring" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "We All Feel Better In The Dark" |
- The capitalization of song titles in this article may be disputed. Please see the centralized discussion on this subject before making changes.
"Being Boring" is a single by the British pop group Pet Shop Boys.
As the second single from the 1990 album Behaviour, after "So Hard" which was released before the album, "Being Boring" was not particularly successful upon release, only reaching number twenty in the UK singles chart and being the first single released by the group not to get into the Top 10 since "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" four years previously.
The song is concerned with the idea of growing up and how people's perceptions and values change as they grow older. The title apparently materialised after someone in Japan accused the duo of being boring. The title is also derived from a Zelda Fitzgerald quotation, "she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring".
The track was originally pieced together in a studio in West Glasgow, where the music for "My October Symphony," "The End Of The World" and the unreleased "Love And War" were also done.[1]
Live
In spite of the track's moderate commercial success, "Being Boring" has been a regularly-played song at concerts and is widely considered amongst the greatest, most beautiful Pet Shop Boys songs by fans. Ironically, due to various factors (including it being hard to sing), initially it wasn't performed on 1991's Performance Tour;[2] this led to many fans, including Axl Rose of hard rock group Guns N' Roses, complaining of its omission.[1] It was however added as an encore late in the tour with the band commenting that it "invariably got the best reception of the night"[2]
Video
The video, the first by fashion-photographer Bruce Weber, totally in black and white, shows a house party and begins with a nude swimmer and a message: "I came from Newcastle in the North of England. We used to have lots of parties where everyone got dressed up and on one party invitation was the quote 'she was never bored because she was never boring'. The song is about growing up - the ideals that you have when you're young and how they turn out".
B-side
The b-side, "We All Feel Better In The Dark" was written around a piece of music Chris Lowe had composed and features him as the lead-vocalist. As he explains, "The idea came from a tape I bought from a health food shop round the corner from the studio: The Secrets Of Sexual Attraction. The words are terrible. Awful. Embarrassing."[3]
The track proved to be a fan favourite and was performed live during their Performance Tour in 1991. The remix 12" includes two mixes of the track by Brothers In Rhythm.
Track listing
7": Parlophone / R 6275 (UK)
- "Being Boring" (4:50)
- "We All Feel Better In The Dark" (4:00)
12": Parlophone / 12 R 6275 (UK)
- "Being Boring" (Extended Mix) (10:38)
- "We All Feel Better In The Dark" (Extended Mix) (6:45)
- "Being Boring" (4:50)
- also available on CD (CDR 6275)
12": Parlophone / 12 RX 6275 (UK)
- "Being Boring" (Marshall Jefferson Remix) (9:04)
- "We All Feel Better In The Dark" (After Hours Climax) (5:29)
- "We All Feel Better In The Dark" (Ambient) (5:20)
- Tracks 2 and 3 remixed by Brothers In Rhythm
Chart performance
| Chart (1990) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Germany | 13 |
| Austria | 30 |
| Sweden | 16 |
| Switzerland | 16 |
| Australia | 82 |
| UK | 20 |
Cover versions
- Australian singer Merril Bainbridge included a cover of the song on her 1995 debut album The Garden.
- Swedish Pet Shop Boys tribute synthpop duo West End Girls recorded a cover for their 2006 album Goes Petshopping.
External links
- 10 Years of Being Boring Fan website dedicated entirely to every aspect of the song
- BBC - Sold on Song Highlight on "Being Boring"
References
- ^ a b Remastered Behaviour liner note interview - Being boring
- ^ a b sleevenotes Pet Shop Boys "Discography: the Complete Singles Collection"
- ^ Remastered Behaviour liner note interview - We all feel better in the dark