It was issued as the first track on the 1990’s LP Behaviour. The song, as the whole album, was a departure from the disco style Pet Shop Boys have become known (and famous) for, into more mature and intelligent pop. While it wasn’t that noticeable with the first single off the album, So hard, the next one—Being boring itself—was definitely something different.
Even after first listen it was predictable that Being boring as a single would follow the same course Love comes quickly did four years earlier. It was a song for conscious, intelligent, thinking listeners and mass audience can hardly be called that. But what seems obvious now, wasn’t necessarily obvious then. Being boring was released and we all got a beautiful video, fabulous B-side and a couple of great remixes issued in wonderfully designed packagings. And it was a commercial disaster—the song barely climbed to astonishingly low #20 in the UK charts.
Given this reason, it might have been the end of Being boring. Nobody buys the single? It must mean nobody likes the song. So despite being one of the most liked track by the Pet Shop Boys themselves, they omitted it during their most spectacular tour in 1991—and Being boring stood at the edge of oblivion.
Being boring was later performed at 1994’s Discovery and 1997’s Somewhere tours. In the meanwhile, 1995 saw Merril Bainbridge’s take on Being boring, which turned it into guitar ballad with somewhat different lyrics. Two years later another band, Norwegian rock group Autopulver also covered the song (not mentioning several other remakes).
The great surprise for fans came in 1999, at the beginning of Nightlife tour, when the Pet Shop Boys performed a completely redone, technoindustrial version of the song. Two versions of this remix were later released on CD single of You only tell me you love me when you’re drunk and Montage live video.
Being boring continued to be played live at 2000’s and 2002’s concerts and hasn’t dated at all, thirteen years after its premiere still being six minutes of pure music perfection.
Created and maintained by Marcin Wichary.
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