Being Boring - Pet Shop Boys

Being Boring - Pet Shop Boys

I came across a cache of old photos
And invitations to teenage parties
Dress in white one said, with quotations
From someones wife, a famous writer
In the nineteen-twenties
When youre young you find inspiration
In anyone whos ever gone
And opened up a closing door
She said: we were never feeling bored

cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: make amends
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end

When I went I left from the station
With a haversack and some trepidation
Someone said: if youre not careful
Youll have nothing left and nothing to care for
In the nineteen-seventies
But I sat back and looking forward
My shoes were high and I had scored
Id bolted through a closing door
I would never find myself feeling bored

cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: make amends
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friend

Now I sit with different faces
In rented rooms and foreign places
All the people I was kissing
Some are here and some are missing
In the nineteen-nineties
I never dreamt that I would get to be
The creature that I always meant to be
But I thought in spite of dreams
Youd be sitting somewhere here with me

cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: make amends
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friend

And we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: make amends
And we were never being boring
We were never being bored
cause we were never being boring
We were never being bored

La mia recensione è una sorta di tributo personale che volevo fare ai Pet Shop Boys, il noto duo inglese elettro-pop/dance composto da Neil Tennant e Chris Lowe.
Resisi famosi nella seconda metà degli anni '80, grazie anche al successo di hit del calibro di "West End Girls", "It's A Sin" e "Rent", il singolo di cui voglio parlare è "Being Boring", secondo estratto dall'album "Behaviour" pubblicato nel 1990.
E' una canzone che ha segnato profondamente un periodo della mia vita (i ricordi relativi alla maturità delle superiori e le prime feste nell'ambiente gay, i primi gay clubs, le prime storie d'amore) ed è con questa traccia che li ho conosciuti proprio in quel momento.
Per quanto riguarda la versione pubblicata nell'album, si tratta di un pezzo notevolmente lungo (6:48), introdotto da una intro di un minuto caratterizzata da dei tappeti di tastiere che avvolgono e introducono l'ascoltatore ai primi versi di Tennant; versi che fanno capire subito quali saranno le emozioni che evocheranno la track (nostalgia, riflessione, tristezza e tanti ricordi).
Si inizia appunto con un cantato nostalgico ("I came across a cache of old photos and invitations to teenage parties") ed attraverso varie riflessioni, viene toccato anche il problema dell'AIDS ("Some are here and some are missing... in the 1990's"), in quanto la canzone è stata dedicata ad un amico di Tennant morto appunto per quella malattia (ed in questo contesto, probabilmente, "But I thought in spite of dreams you'd be sitting somewhere here with me" è l'apice della composizione).
Per chi non la conosce, non aspettatevi la classica canzone dei Pet Shop Boys "danzereccia", ma si tratta comunque di un pezzo fondamentale nella loro discografia, nonché una delle hit più amate dai fans.
Saranno forse le riflessioni e le emozioni uniche trasmesse che permettono di rendere il pezzo straordinario nel tempo, continuando a strabiliare e a non annoiare dopo ripetuti ascolti.
Del resto, come cantano in questo capolavoro, "We were never being boring cos we were never being bored".

Il titolo è derivato da una citazione di Zelda Fitzgerald: "she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring".
Il video è il primo del fotografo di moda Bruce Weber, totalmente in bianco e nero, mostra un party all'interno di una casa ed inizia con un il tuffo di un ragazzo nudo ed il messaggio: "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".