Pet Shop Boys achieved a kind of alchemy that only music can
Their hits have endured because they transmute sadness into joy
When “it’s a sin” was released in 1987, gay marriage was barely a dream. Margaret Thatcher’s government would soon pass a law banning the “promotion of homosexuality” in classrooms. Neil Tennant, Pet Shop Boys’ singer and lyricist, drew on his spell at a Catholic school in Newcastle, characteristically using language at once limpid and flexible, so that the “sin” seems to cover all manner of impulses. In a video directed by Derek Jarman, Mr Tennant was tormented by inquisitors as he made his pulsating confession:
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Debussy to a disco beat”
Culture June 25th 2022
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- Pet Shop Boys achieved a kind of alchemy that only music can
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