Go West - Music
Go West by Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Artist Biography For Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys Is A British Synthpop/dance Music Duo Consisting Of Neil Tennant And Chris Lowe And Were Formed In London UK In 1981. Post-Modern Ironists Cloaked Behind A Veil Of Buoyantly Melodic And Lushly Romantic Synth Pop Confections Pet Shop Boys Offer Wry Yet Strangely Affecting Cultural Commentary Communicated By The Morse Code Of Synth Washes And Drum Machine Rhythms. After First Emerging In The Mid-'80s With "West End Girls" And "Opportunities Let's Make Lots Of Money " Neil Tennant And Chris Lowe Quickly Established Themselves As Hitmaking Singles Artists Who Were Also Able To Craft Emotionally Resonant Albums Like 1988's Introspective And 1990's Behaviour. The Duo Navigated The Constantly Shifting Landscape Of Modern Dance-Pop With Grace And Intelligence Moving Easily From Disco To House Music To Thoughtful Synth Pop Without Losing Their Distinctive Style In The Process. Continuing To Evolve Artistically Pet Shop Boys Incorporated Latin Music On 1996's Bilingual Expanded Into Theater And Ballet And Morphed Into Elder Statesmen Of Electronic Pop Still Able To Release Interesting Albums After More Than 30 Years As Evidenced By Highlights Like 2016's Super And 2020's Hotspot. Pet Shop Boys Formed In London In August 1981 When Vocalist Tennant A Former Editor At Marvel Comics Who Later Gained Recognition As A Journalist For Smash Hits Magazine First Met Keyboardist Lowe A Onetime Architecture Student At An Electronics Shop. Discovering A Shared Passion For Dance Music And Synthesizers They Immediately Decided To Start A Band. After Dubbing Themselves Pet Shop Boys In Honor Of Friends Who Worked In Such An Establishment -- While Also Obliquely Nodding To The Sort Of Names Prevalent Among The New York City Hip-Hop Culture Of The Early '80s -- The Duo's Career First Took Flight In 1983 When Tennant Met Producer Bobby "O" Orlando While On A Writing Assignment. Orlando Produced Their First Single 1984's "West End Girls." The Song Was A Minor Hit In The U.S. But Went Nowhere In Britain And Its Follow-Up "One More Chance " Was Also Unsuccessful. Upon Signing To EMI Pet Shop Boys Issued 1985's Biting "Opportunities Let's Make Lots Of Money ." When It Too Failed To Attract Attention The Duo's Future Appeared Grim But Tennant And Lowe Then Released An Evocative New Stephen Hague Production Of "West End Girls " Which Became An International Chart-Topper. Its Massive Success Propelled Pet Shop Boys' 1986 Debut LP Please Into The Top Ten And When "Opportunities" Was Subsequently Reissued It Too Became A Hit. Disco A Collection Of Dance Remixes Was Quickly Rushed Into Stores And In 1987 The Duo Resurfaced With The Superb Actually Which Launched Two More Top Ten Smashes -- "It's A Sin" And "What Have I Done To Deserve This? " A Duet Between Tennant And The Great Dusty Springfield. Later That Year "Always On My Mind " A Lovely Cover Of The Perennial Elvis Presley Standard Reached Number One In Several Countries And The Top Ten In The U.S. A Documentary Film Titled It Couldn't Happen Here Was Released One Year Later. In October 1988 Pet Shop Boys Issued Their Third Studio LP The Eclectic Introspective. "Domino Dancing" And "Left To My Own Devices" Both Reached The Top Ten In Great Britain. The Following Year Pet Shop Boys Collaborated With A Variety Of Performers Most Notably Liza Minnelli For Whom They Produced The 1989 LP Results. They Also Produced Material For Springfield And Tennant Joined New Order Frontman Bernard Sumner And Ex-Smiths Guitarist Johnny Marr In The Group Electronic Scoring A Hit With The Single "Getting Away With It." Tennant And Lowe Reconvened In 1990 For The Muted Downcast Behavior Produced By Harold Faltermeyer. Their Hit Medley Of U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name" And Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" Was Released In 1991 And Was Followed In 1993 By Very Lauded As One Of The Duo's Finest Efforts. After A Three-Year Absence Pet Shop Boys Resurfaced With Bilingual A Fluid Expansion Into Latin Rhythms. Nightlife Followed In 1999 And Sparked The Dance Club Hit "New York City Boy " Whose Success Allowed The Group To Tour The U.S. For The First Time In Eight Years. While On Tour The Pair Also Collaborated With Playwright Jonathan Harvey On A Musical Surrounding Gay Life And Societal Criticisms Which The Three Had Been Planning Since 1997. Closer To Heaven Made Its West End Debut In 2001 And Had A Successful Run For Most Of The Year Pet Shop Boys' Score Of The Original Cast Recording Was Also A Hit In The U.K. They Still Had Time To Make A Record For Themselves Too In April 2002 Tennant And Lowe Issued Release And Disco 3 Was Compiled For Release The Following Year. Pet Shop Boys Continued Releasing Material Throughout The Decade's Latter Half. In 2005 They Put Together A Volume Of The Back To Mine Series And Released Their Music Designed To Accompany The 1925 Silent Film Battleship Potemkin A Soundtrack They'd Performed A Year Earlier At A Free Concert/screening In Trafalgar Square. A Year Later They Issued Fundamental A Mature Sometimes Political Album Produced By Trevor Horn. The Live Album Concrete In Concert At The Mermaid Theatre Appeared At The End Of The Year And Yes -- A Collaborative Effort With The Production Crew Xenomania -- Marked The Band's Tenth Studio Effort In March 2009. While Playing Shows In Support Of That Album Pet Shop Boys Also Released A Hits Compilation Party To Coincide With The Brazilian Leg Of Their Tour. In 2010 The Tour Was Documented On The CD/DVD Release Pandemonium And Another Greatest-Hits Compilation Ultimate Arrived. Their 2011 Effort The Most Incredible Thing Was A Two-Disc Ballet Score Composed For The Sadler's Wells Theatre In London While 2012's Format Rounded Up The Duo's B-Sides And Bonus Tracks From The Years 1996-2009. Also In 2012 Pet Shop Boys Released The Sports-Themed Single "Winner" And Performed The Track At The 2012 Olympics Summer Games Held That Year In Their Hometown Of London. The Track Landed On That Year's Album Elysium Which Was Produced By Kanye West Affiliate Andrew Dawson. Stuart Price Madonna Seal Kylie Minogue Was The Producer Of 2013's Electric An Album That Featured No Ballads Just Dance Tracks. In May 2014 The Duo Announced More Original Music This Time With A Concert Piece Scheduled For A July Date At Royal Albert Hall Commemorating British Code Breaker Alan Turing And Including The BBC Concert Orchestra. Price Returned As Producer Of 2016's Super The Second Album In A Row Where Pet Shop Boys Were "electronic Purists " Meaning No Guitars No Orchestral Support And No Organic Instruments. The Following Year Saw The Band Issue The Undertow EP Which Featured Two Remixes Of Super's "Undertow " A Remix Of "Burn " And A New Version Of "Left To My Own Devices " Produced By Stuart Price. They Were Also Awarded The Godlike Genius Award By NME. The Duo Issued The Agenda EP In Early 2019 And The Live Album CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Release Inner Sanctum Appeared In April It Was Recorded During Pet Shop Boys' Four-Day Residency In July 2018 At The Royal Opera House In London. Later In The Year They Started Issuing Songs From Their Next Long-Player Including "Dreamland " A Collaboration With Years & Years And "Burning The Heather " Which Featured Suede's Bernard Butler On Guitar. The Album Titled Hotspot Arrived In January 2020 And Was Their Third LP To Be Produced By Price. Discovery Live In Rio A Concert Originally Issued On Video In 1995 Was Issued On DVD And CD For The First Time In 2021. The Duo Also Released A Nearly Ten-Minute Classical-Inspired Single Titled "Cricket Wife." In May 2022 Pet Shop And British Pop Duo Soft Cell Released The Album *Happiness Not Included - Soft Cell First Studio Album In Nearly Two Decades. The Colab Included The Song “Purple Zone” Blending The Best Of Both Soft Cell And Pet Shop Boys Layering A Dazzling Synth Riff And Dance Floor-Ready Beat With Anthemic Vocals. Appropriately For The Pandemics The Track Laments Feeling Stuck In The Monotony Of Everyday Mundanities “Let’s Get Out Of This Life/ I’m Afraid And Alone ” Goes The Chorus. Paralyzed In The Purple Zone.” Their Much-Anticipated “Unity Tour” Of North America Alongside New Order Rescheduled Twice Following Pandemics Delays Kicked Off In Fall 2022 And Included Several Venues In Canada And The United States Featuring Paul Oakenfold As Special Guest DJ. Http //petshopboys.Co.Uk
Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Go West
Pet-Shop-Boys - PopArt: The Hits
Go West Is A Song By The 1970s Disco Group Village People. The Song Eventually Found Greater Success When It Was Covered In 1993 By The Synthpop Duo Pet Shop Boys. In 1992 When Pet Shop Boys Were Asked By Derek Jarman To Perform At An AIDS Charity Event At The Haçienda Nightclub In Manchester Chris Lowe Of The Duo Selected "Go West" As The Song They Would Perform. Though Singer Neil Tennant Was Unable To Remember The Lyrics During That Performance The Two Decided To Record It As A Single. The Original Single Version Of The Song Set For An Earlier Release In 1992 As A Non-Album Single Was Never Used Both It And Its Similarly Unreleased B-Side "Forever In Love" Were Eventually Released On The 2001 Expanded Reissue Of Very. The Final Single Release In 1993 Was The Second Single From Very And Included Remixes By Brothers In Rhythm Farley & Heller Kevin Saunderson And Mark Stent The New B-Side "Shameless" Went On To Be Included In The Band's 2001 Musical Closer To Heaven. The 1993 Single Release Went To Number Two In The United Kingdom And Number One In Germany In Both Countries It Was Their Biggest Hit Of The 1990s Or The 2000s So Far . "Go West" Has Since Become Pet Shop Boys' Traditional Concert Closer. Musically The New Version Played Up The Basis Of The Original's Chord Progression In Pachelbel's Canon Bringing The Theme To The Forefront In The Opening Of The Song. In Addition To The Canon Elements The New Version Also Includes Thematic Elements From The Old Soviet Union Anthem. The Song Also Underwent Extensive Reworkings Of Its Instrumental Tracks With Producers Stephen Hague And Mark Stent Credited For The Mixing As Well As An All-Male Broadway Choir Said By Tennant To Be Inspired By The Song "There Is Nothing Like A Dame" From The Broadway Musical South Pacific . In Addition Tennant And Lowe Inserted A New Section To The Song With The Lyrics There Where The Air Is Free We'll Be What We Want To Be Now If We Make A Stand We'll Find Our Promised Land Where The Original Was Sincerely Idealistic In Its Depiction Of A Utopia The Pet Shop Boys Version Characteristic Of The Band Introduced A Layer Of Subtext — Here Sadness And A Hopeless Optimism Inspired By The Aftermath Of The AIDS Pandemic Of The 1980s And How It Had Affected The Supposed Utopia Of The Original Version. In Addition The Music Video Of The New Version Introduced Soviet Imagery Such As Red Stars Showing Troops Of Identical Men Marching Up A Staircase Stretching Into The Clouds With The Statue Of Liberty Looming In The Distance — Seemingly Towards A Promised Western Utopia. Directed By Howard Greenhalgh The Video Relied Heavily On Computer-Generated Imagery As Was The Case With His Entire Series Of Videos For The Very Singles. One Of The Few Real-Life Elements Were Tennant And Lowe Dressed In Blue And Yellow Bodysuits And Round Domed Helmets Among A Series Of Costumes They Adapted For Promotion Of The Singles From Very One Of The Few Real-Life Backdrops Used Was Red Square Moscow Which The Pair Are Seen Walking Through While Wearing The Costumes. The Costumes Were Parodied In The Video For Their Later 2006 Single "I'm With Stupid". Adding To The Soviet Theme The Song Also Drew Comparisons To The National Anthem Of The Soviet Union. The Video Was Nominated For The Grammy Award For Best Short Form Music Video In 1995 Losing To "Love Is Strong" By The Rolling Stones. Years Later When Pet Shop Boys Closed Their Set At The July 2 2005 Moscow Live 8 Concert In Red Square With The Song The Russian Audience Could Be Heard Singing Along. The Original Music Video For The Pet Shop Boys Version Of The Song Prominently Features Communist Iconography Especially The Red Star And Red Flags Selectively Obliterating Scenes. The Statue Of Liberty Is Also Shown Frequently With A Red Crown And At Least Once Is Seen To Appear To Crumble As The Red-Crowned Troops Dressed In White Advance Across The Landscape Of The Video.
50 Similar Tracks:
Pet Shop Boys - It's Alright Pet Shop Boys - Can You Forgive Her? Erasure - A Little Respect Erasure - Oh L'Amour Alphaville - Big In Japan Rick Astley - Together Forever A-Ha - The Sun Always Shines On T.V. Bananarama - Venus Alphaville - Sounds Like A Melody Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax Nik Kershaw - The Riddle Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Enola Gay A-Ha - Take On Me Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This Talk Talk - Such A Shame Nik Kershaw - Wouldn't It Be Good Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy Soft Cell - Tainted Love Talk Talk - It's My Life Gazebo - I Like Chopin Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough Duran Duran - The Reflex Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again Paul Young - Come Back And Stay Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence Culture Club - Karma Chameleon Milli Vanilli - Girl You Know It's True Bryan Ferry - Slave To Love Sandra - I'll Never Be Maria Magdalena Laura Branigan - Gloria Camouflage - The Great Commandment Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam Limahl - Never Ending Story Roxette - The Look Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round Like A Record Laura Branigan - Self Control Kim Wilde - Cambodia Desireless - Voyage, Voyage Living In A Box - Living In A Box New Order - Blue Monday Sandra - Everlasting Love The Human League - Don't You Want Me Electronic - Getting Away With It Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Two Tribes Blondie - Maria The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star Secret Service - Flash In The Night Kylie Minogue - The Loco-Motion Bronski Beat - Why? Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy
POPULAR
TRACKS
MIXES
ALBUMS
Video 1 : 50
Music Tags for Pet Shop Boys:
Biography - Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys Is A British Synthpop/dance Music Duo Consisting Of Neil Tennant And Chris Lowe And Were Formed In London UK In 1981. Post-Modern Ironists Cloaked Behind A Veil Of Buoyantly Melodic And Lushly Romantic Synth Pop Confections Pet Shop Boys Offer Wry Yet Strangely Affecting Cultural Commentary Communicated By The Morse Code Of Synth Washes And Drum Machine Rhythms. After First Emerging In The Mid-'80s With "West End Girls" And "Opportunities Let's Make Lots Of Money " Neil Tennant And Chris Lowe Quickly Established Themselves As Hitmaking Singles Artists Who Were Also Able To Craft Emotionally Resonant Albums Like 1988's Introspective And 1990's Behaviour. The Duo Navigated The Constantly Shifting Landscape Of Modern Dance-Pop With Grace And Intelligence Moving Easily From Disco To House Music To Thoughtful Synth Pop Without Losing Their Distinctive Style In The Process. Continuing To Evolve Artistically Pet Shop Boys Incorporated Latin Music On 1996's Bilingual Expanded Into Theater And Ballet And Morphed Into Elder Statesmen Of Electronic Pop Still Able To Release Interesting Albums After More Than 30 Years As Evidenced By Highlights Like 2016's Super And 2020's Hotspot. Pet Shop Boys Formed In London In August 1981 When Vocalist Tennant A Former Editor At Marvel Comics Who Later Gained Recognition As A Journalist For Smash Hits Magazine First Met Keyboardist Lowe A Onetime Architecture Student At An Electronics Shop. Discovering A Shared Passion For Dance Music And Synthesizers They Immediately Decided To Start A Band. After Dubbing Themselves Pet Shop Boys In Honor Of Friends Who Worked In Such An Establishment -- While Also Obliquely Nodding To The Sort Of Names Prevalent Among The New York City Hip-Hop Culture Of The Early '80s -- The Duo's Career First Took Flight In 1983 When Tennant Met Producer Bobby "O" Orlando While On A Writing Assignment. Orlando Produced Their First Single 1984's "West End Girls." The Song Was A Minor Hit In The U.S. But Went Nowhere In Britain And Its Follow-Up "One More Chance " Was Also Unsuccessful. Upon Signing To EMI Pet Shop Boys Issued 1985's Biting "Opportunities Let's Make Lots Of Money ." When It Too Failed To Attract Attention The Duo's Future Appeared Grim But Tennant And Lowe Then Released An Evocative New Stephen Hague Production Of "West End Girls " Which Became An International Chart-Topper. Its Massive Success Propelled Pet Shop Boys' 1986 Debut LP Please Into The Top Ten And When "Opportunities" Was Subsequently Reissued It Too Became A Hit. Disco A Collection Of Dance Remixes Was Quickly Rushed Into Stores And In 1987 The Duo Resurfaced With The Superb Actually Which Launched Two More Top Ten Smashes -- "It's A Sin" And "What Have I Done To Deserve This? " A Duet Between Tennant And The Great Dusty Springfield. Later That Year "Always On My Mind " A Lovely Cover Of The Perennial Elvis Presley Standard Reached Number One In Several Countries And The Top Ten In The U.S. A Documentary Film Titled It Couldn't Happen Here Was Released One Year Later. In October 1988 Pet Shop Boys Issued Their Third Studio LP The Eclectic Introspective. "Domino Dancing" And "Left To My Own Devices" Both Reached The Top Ten In Great Britain. The Following Year Pet Shop Boys Collaborated With A Variety Of Performers Most Notably Liza Minnelli For Whom They Produced The 1989 LP Results. They Also Produced Material For Springfield And Tennant Joined New Order Frontman Bernard Sumner And Ex-Smiths Guitarist Johnny Marr In The Group Electronic Scoring A Hit With The Single "Getting Away With It." Tennant And Lowe Reconvened In 1990 For The Muted Downcast Behavior Produced By Harold Faltermeyer. Their Hit Medley Of U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name" And Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" Was Released In 1991 And Was Followed In 1993 By Very Lauded As One Of The Duo's Finest Efforts. After A Three-Year Absence Pet Shop Boys Resurfaced With Bilingual A Fluid Expansion Into Latin Rhythms. Nightlife Followed In 1999 And Sparked The Dance Club Hit "New York City Boy " Whose Success Allowed The Group To Tour The U.S. For The First Time In Eight Years. While On Tour The Pair Also Collaborated With Playwright Jonathan Harvey On A Musical Surrounding Gay Life And Societal Criticisms Which The Three Had Been Planning Since 1997. Closer To Heaven Made Its West End Debut In 2001 And Had A Successful Run For Most Of The Year Pet Shop Boys' Score Of The Original Cast Recording Was Also A Hit In The U.K. They Still Had Time To Make A Record For Themselves Too In April 2002 Tennant And Lowe Issued Release And Disco 3 Was Compiled For Release The Following Year. Pet Shop Boys Continued Releasing Material Throughout The Decade's Latter Half. In 2005 They Put Together A Volume Of The Back To Mine Series And Released Their Music Designed To Accompany The 1925 Silent Film Battleship Potemkin A Soundtrack They'd Performed A Year Earlier At A Free Concert/screening In Trafalgar Square. A Year Later They Issued Fundamental A Mature Sometimes Political Album Produced By Trevor Horn. The Live Album Concrete In Concert At The Mermaid Theatre Appeared At The End Of The Year And Yes -- A Collaborative Effort With The Production Crew Xenomania -- Marked The Band's Tenth Studio Effort In March 2009. While Playing Shows In Support Of That Album Pet Shop Boys Also Released A Hits Compilation Party To Coincide With The Brazilian Leg Of Their Tour. In 2010 The Tour Was Documented On The CD/DVD Release Pandemonium And Another Greatest-Hits Compilation Ultimate Arrived. Their 2011 Effort The Most Incredible Thing Was A Two-Disc Ballet Score Composed For The Sadler's Wells Theatre In London While 2012's Format Rounded Up The Duo's B-Sides And Bonus Tracks From The Years 1996-2009. Also In 2012 Pet Shop Boys Released The Sports-Themed Single "Winner" And Performed The Track At The 2012 Olympics Summer Games Held That Year In Their Hometown Of London. The Track Landed On That Year's Album Elysium Which Was Produced By Kanye West Affiliate Andrew Dawson. Stuart Price Madonna Seal Kylie Minogue Was The Producer Of 2013's Electric An Album That Featured No Ballads Just Dance Tracks. In May 2014 The Duo Announced More Original Music This Time With A Concert Piece Scheduled For A July Date At Royal Albert Hall Commemorating British Code Breaker Alan Turing And Including The BBC Concert Orchestra. Price Returned As Producer Of 2016's Super The Second Album In A Row Where Pet Shop Boys Were "electronic Purists " Meaning No Guitars No Orchestral Support And No Organic Instruments. The Following Year Saw The Band Issue The Undertow EP Which Featured Two Remixes Of Super's "Undertow " A Remix Of "Burn " And A New Version Of "Left To My Own Devices " Produced By Stuart Price. They Were Also Awarded The Godlike Genius Award By NME. The Duo Issued The Agenda EP In Early 2019 And The Live Album CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Release Inner Sanctum Appeared In April It Was Recorded During Pet Shop Boys' Four-Day Residency In July 2018 At The Royal Opera House In London. Later In The Year They Started Issuing Songs From Their Next Long-Player Including "Dreamland " A Collaboration With Years & Years And "Burning The Heather " Which Featured Suede's Bernard Butler On Guitar. The Album Titled Hotspot Arrived In January 2020 And Was Their Third LP To Be Produced By Price. Discovery Live In Rio A Concert Originally Issued On Video In 1995 Was Issued On DVD And CD For The First Time In 2021. The Duo Also Released A Nearly Ten-Minute Classical-Inspired Single Titled "Cricket Wife." In May 2022 Pet Shop And British Pop Duo Soft Cell Released The Album *Happiness Not Included - Soft Cell First Studio Album In Nearly Two Decades. The Colab Included The Song “Purple Zone” Blending The Best Of Both Soft Cell And Pet Shop Boys Layering A Dazzling Synth Riff And Dance Floor-Ready Beat With Anthemic Vocals. Appropriately For The Pandemics The Track Laments Feeling Stuck In The Monotony Of Everyday Mundanities “Let’s Get Out Of This Life/ I’m Afraid And Alone ” Goes The Chorus. Paralyzed In The Purple Zone.” Their Much-Anticipated “Unity Tour” Of North America Alongside New Order Rescheduled Twice Following Pandemics Delays Kicked Off In Fall 2022 And Included Several Venues In Canada And The United States Featuring Paul Oakenfold As Special Guest DJ. Http //petshopboys.Co.Uk
read less
read more
16 Similar Artists To Pet Shop Boys - Frogtoon Music
Erasure Electronic New Order Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Depeche Mode The Human League Yazoo A-Ha Howard Jones Soft Cell Bananarama Saint Etienne Eurythmics Alphaville Duran Duran Heaven 17.
Go West is a song by the 1970s disco group Village People. The song eventually found greater success when it was covered in 1993 by the synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys.
In 1992, when Pet Shop Boys were asked by Derek Jarman to perform at an AIDS charity event at The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester, Chris Lowe of the duo selected "Go West" as the song they would perform. Though singer Neil Tennant was unable to remember the lyrics during that performance, the two decided to record it as a single.
The original single version of the song, set for an earlier release in 1992 as a non-album single, was never used; both it, and its similarly unreleased B-side "Forever in Love", were eventually released on the 2001 expanded reissue of Very. The final single release, in 1993, was the second single from Very, and included remixes by Brothers in Rhythm, Farley & Heller, Kevin Saunderson, and Mark Stent; the new B-side, "Shameless", went on to be included in the band's 2001 musical, Closer to Heaven. The 1993 single release went to number two in the United Kingdom and number one in Germany; in both countries, it was their biggest hit of the 1990s or the 2000s (so far). "Go West" has since become Pet Shop Boys' traditional concert closer.
Musically, the new version played up the basis of the original's chord progression in Pachelbel's Canon, bringing the theme to the forefront in the opening of the song. In addition to the Canon elements, the new version also includes thematic elements from the old Soviet Union anthem. The song also underwent extensive reworkings of its instrumental tracks, with producers Stephen Hague and Mark Stent credited for the mixing, as well as an all-male Broadway choir (said by Tennant to be inspired by the song "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" from the Broadway musical South Pacific). In addition, Tennant and Lowe inserted a new section to the song, with the lyrics:
There where the air is free
we'll be what we want to be
Now if we make a stand
we'll find our promised land
Where the original was sincerely idealistic in its depiction of a utopia, the Pet Shop Boys version, characteristic of the band, introduced a layer of subtext — here, sadness and a hopeless optimism, inspired by the aftermath of the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s and how it had affected the supposed utopia of the original version.
In addition, the music video of the new version introduced Soviet imagery (such as red stars), showing troops of identical men marching up a staircase stretching into the clouds, with the Statue of Liberty looming in the distance — seemingly towards a promised Western utopia. Directed by Howard Greenhalgh, the video relied heavily on computer-generated imagery, as was the case with his entire series of videos for the Very singles.
One of the few real-life elements were Tennant and Lowe, dressed in blue and yellow bodysuits and round, domed helmets (among a series of costumes they adapted for promotion of the singles from Very); one of the few real-life backdrops used was Red Square, Moscow, which the pair are seen walking through, while wearing the costumes. (The costumes were parodied in the video for their later 2006 single, "I'm with Stupid".) Adding to the Soviet theme, the song also drew comparisons to the National Anthem of the Soviet Union. The video was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 1995, losing to "Love Is Strong" by The Rolling Stones.
Years later, when Pet Shop Boys closed their set at the July 2, 2005 Moscow Live 8 concert in Red Square with the song, the Russian audience could be heard singing along.
The original music video for the Pet Shop Boys version of the song prominently features Communist iconography, especially the red star and red flags selectively obliterating scenes. The Statue of Liberty is also shown, frequently with a red crown, and at least once is seen to appear to crumble as the red-crowned troops dressed in white advance across the landscape of the video. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.