Being Boring

Neil Tennant, Dominic Clarke, Pet Shop Boys, Chris Lowe

About Being Boring

"Being Boring" is a song by the British pop group Pet Shop Boys, the opening track from their fourth album Behaviour. As the second single release from the album, following "So Hard", "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". Rated highly by Pet Shop Boy aficionados, in an interview in 1993, Neil Tennant described "Being Boring" as "one of the best songs that we've written", and explained that "For me it is a personal song because it's about a friend of mine who died of AIDS, and so it's about our lives when we were teenagers and how we moved to London, and I suppose me becoming successful and him becoming ill."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. The track was also played in 1990–1991 Brazilian soap opera Meu Bem, Meu Mal. The track was played in an episode of Top Gear from 2001, during the review of the Mazda 626. 


Year:
1990
6:50
67 
#2

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I came across a cache of old photos
And invitations to teenage parties
"Dress in white" one said, with quotations
From someone´s wife, a famous writer
In the nineteen-twenties
When you´re young you find inspiration
In anyone who´s 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 you´re not careful
You´ll 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
I´d 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
You´d 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 were never being bored
´Cause we were never being boring
We were never being bored

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Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards. more »

7 fans

Written by: CHRISTOPHER LOWE, NEIL TENNANT

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind


11 facts about this song

Song Development
"Being Boring" was released in 1990 as the second single from their fourth studio album, "Behaviour" by Pet Shop Boys.
Inspiration
The inspiration for the song title and theme came from a quote by Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald, which mentioned "She refused to be bored, chiefly because she wasn't boring."
Lyric Theme
This song's lyrics depict moving through life and the changes that occur, with allusions to the leaving of old friends, moving away from home, and growing older.
Autobiographical Nature
The song has autobiographical elements, reflecting member Neil Tennant's experiences coming of age and his early experiences in London.
Music Video
The song's music video was directed by filmmaker Bruce Weber, known for his black-and-white photography and stark aesthetic, it features a selection of models engaging in playful, bohemian behavior.
Song Reception
Although "Being Boring" was not as commercially successful as many of their other hits, it has since been acclaimed critically and is often regarded as one of Pet Shop Boys' finest songs.
Tribute to a Friend
The song was also written in tribute to a close friend of Tennant and Lowe's who had died of AIDS.
Initial Failures
Initially, the song failed in the UK charts by only reaching no.20 and didn't even appear on the Billboard Hot 100.
Professional Recognition
Rolling Stone Magazine gave recognition to the song by calling it a highly introspective masterpiece for the Pet Shop Boys.
Fanfare
"Being Boring" remains a favorite among Pet Shop Boy fans and often appears during the duo's live performances.
International Success
The song was particularly popular in Spain, making it all the way to No. 1 on their national chart.

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