Everyone knows “West End Girls”, and it is a great song, but there is such a deep catalog of incredible song writing found in the Pet Shop Boys. My favorite album of theirs is Behavior, and I’ve heard Axel Rose’s loved the album as well for whatever that’s worth. This was also the album that the non-music loving, sports playing, cheap beer drinking, neighborhood boys I hung out with growing up actually liked too.
Why does “My October Symphony” stand out as my favorite Pet Shop Boys song and one of my favorite songs of all time?
First, the guitar playing by Johnny Marr. After The Smiths broke up, he played on some tracks with a few acts, some of which we will hear later. He was already forming a super group with Bernard Sumner of Joy Division/New Order called Electronic, and the Pet Shop Boys recorded with Sumner and Marr for their first single “Getting Away With It.” It makes sense that Marr would pop over to record with them on their album.
Second, the groove. I just dig it. It captures the feel of a Fall day, a little behind the beat, which is hard since this is mostly synths. I play this song as often as I can in October.
Third, the topic. This was release in 1990 and so was around the collapse of the Soviet Union and communism in Russia. This song is written from the perspective of a Russian composer who was now unsure what to do with his work? Art was mandated by the government, and so needed to promote the wonderfulness of the communist revolution and the state. So, if that all fell apart, now what? Was it all just a waste? “Shall I rewrite or revise my October symphony? Or as an indication, change the dedication, from revolution, to revelation?”
Music That Matters (To Me) 