Love Is a Bourgeois Construct

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"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct"
Pet Shop Boys - Love Is a Bourgeois Construct.png
Single by Pet Shop Boys
from the album Electric
B-side
  • "Entschuldigung!"
  • "Get It Online"
Released2 September 2013
Genre Hi-NRG [1] [2]
Length6:41
Label x2
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Stuart Price
Pet Shop Boys singles chronology
"Vocal"
(2013)		"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct"
(2013)		"Thursday"
(2013)
Music video
"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (audio) on YouTube

"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their twelfth studio album, Electric (2013). It was released on 2 September 2013 as the album's third single. The song is based on the instrumental "Chasing Sheep Is Best Left to Shepherds" (1982), a minimalist piece by Michael Nyman, [3] which in turn is based on the Prelude to Act III, Scene 2 of the opera King Arthur (1691) by Henry Purcell. [4]

Contents

The Guardian named "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" the fourth best track of the year, [5] and Slant Magazine listed the song at number 18 on its "25 Best Singles of 2013" list. [6]

Background and recording

"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" was written in 2012 [7] in Berlin after the completion of the Pet Shop Boys' album Elysium earlier that year. [8] Chris Lowe had the idea to write music inspired by "Chasing Sheep Is Best Left to Shepherds". [9] Neil Tennant came up with the title based on a passage from the novel Nice Work by David Lodge, about a plant manager who falls in love with a feminist university lecturer. [7]

"I've been in love with you for weeks."

"There's no such thing," she says. "It's a rhetorical device. It's a bourgeois fallacy."

"Haven't you ever been in love, then?"

"When I was younger," she says, "I allowed myself to be constructed by the discourse of romantic love for a while, yes." [10]

For the song, Tennant imagined a middle-class man who was living a comfortable life, until his partner left him and his bourgeois lifestyle became meaningless. [9] The lyrics make reference to the writings of Karl Marx, from the narrator's university days, [9] and to Labour Party politician Tony Benn, who was known for his tea-drinking habit. [11] [12]

The songs on Electric were recorded and sequenced in alphabetical order; the demo was originally called Bourgeois, so it followed Bolshy. [13] When the song was recorded for the album, producer Stuart Price used the sheet music from Purcell's work. [14]

Release

The single was released digitally on 2 September 2013 in two bundles, followed by a CD single on 30 September. Both the physical and digital formats include remixes by Little Boots, The Penelopes and Dave Audé, as well as two previously unreleased B-sides, "Entschuldigung!" and "Get It Online". [15] The twelve-inch single was released on 9 December 2013. [16]

Live performances

"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" was performed on select dates of the Electric Tour, [17] with scenes of the Goldhawk Road in London, mentioned in the lyrics, as a backdrop. [18] The song was played regularly during the Super Tour, [19] and it is included on the live album Inner Sanctum , which was recorded during the Pet Shop Boys' residency at the Royal Opera House in July 2018. [20]

Track listings

Digital bundle 1 [15] [21]
No.TitleLength
1."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Nighttime radio edit)4:10
2."Entschuldigung!"5:03
3."Get It Online"3:36
4."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (The Penelopes remix radio edit)4:09
Digital bundle 2 [15] [22]
No.TitleLength
1."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (The Penelopes remix)7:00
2."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Claptone remix)7:00
3."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Little Boots Discothèque edit)6:50
4."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Dave Audé Big Dirty dub)6:16
5."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Claptone instrumental)6:57
CD single [15]
No.TitleLength
1."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Nighttime radio edit)4:10
2."Entschuldigung!"5:03
3."Get It Online"3:36
4."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (The Penelopes remix)7:00
5."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Claptone remix)7:00
6."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Little Boots Discothèque edit)6:50
7."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Dave Audé Big Dirty dub)6:16
8."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Claptone instrumental)6:57
9."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Little Boots Discothèque dub)6:50
12-inch single [16]
No.TitleLength
1."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (album version)6:42
2."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (The Penelopes remix)7:00
3."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Claptone remix)7:00
4."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Little Boots Discothèque dub)6:51
5."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Dave Audé extended vocal remix)6:47
6."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Claptone instrumental)6:57
7."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (Dave Audé Big Dirty dub instrumental)6:17
8."Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (The Penelopes dub)7:04

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Electric [23] and "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct". [24]

On the album, a songwriting credit for "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" is given to Henry Purcell in addition to Tennant and Lowe; whereas on the single, Michael Nyman is credited instead of Purcell, and his music publisher, Chester Music, is also listed.

Pet Shop Boys

Additional vocals

Charts

Chart performance for "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct"
Chart (2013)Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC) [25] 105
UK Indie (OCC) [26] 18
US Dance Club Songs ( Billboard ) [27] 38
US Dance Singles Sales ( Billboard ) [28] 1
US Hot Singles Sales ( Billboard ) [29] 4

Lyrics: Love is a bourgeois construct

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References

  1. ↑ "Album review: Pet Shop Boys, Electric". The Scotsman . 14 July 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  2. ↑ Walters, Barry. "SPIN's 20 Best Pop Albums of 2013: 16 – Pet Shop Boys, Electric (x2)". Spin . Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "'Love is a bourgeois construct' single". PetShopBoys.co.uk. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  4. ↑ "Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds (The Draughtsman's Contract) (1982)". Wise Music Classical. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  5. ↑ "The best tracks of 2013: our top 20". The Guardian . 23 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  6. ↑ Cinquemani, Sal (11 December 2013). "The 25 Best Singles of 2013". Slant Magazine . Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  7. 1 2 Tennant, Neil (2018). One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem: 1979–2016. London: Faber & Faber. p. 118. ISBN   9780571348916.
  8. ↑ Pet Shop Boys and Stuart Price (3 January 2024). Album Track by Track (Band and Producer Commentary) (audio commentary). x2.
  9. 1 2 3 "History: September 2013". petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  10. ↑ Lodge, David (1990). Nice Work. New York: Penguin Books. Part 5, chapter 2, page 210. ISBN   0140133968.
  11. ↑ Levine, Nick (21 January 2020). "Why Pet Shop Boys are still the cleverest men in pop". BBC. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  12. ↑ Houston, Muiris (7 April 2014). "Tony Benn, Earl Grey and William Gladstone can't all be wrong, can they?". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  13. ↑ Robinson, Peter (25 June 2013). "A lengthy Neil Tennant interview". Popjustice. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  14. ↑ Daw, Robbie (21 June 2013). "Pet Shop Boys Discuss 'Electric', Their Euphoric Summer Album: Idolator Interview". Idolator. It's a sample of Purcell. It's not a sample at all, actually. It's being re-played by Stuart from the original sheet music.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Love is a Bourgeois Construct release information". PetShopBoys.co.uk. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  16. 1 2 "Vinyl". PetShopBoys.co.uk. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  17. ↑ "Songs played by tour: Electric Tour". setlist.fm. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  18. ↑ Needham, Alex (8 June 2014). "Pet Shop Boys review - tightrope walking between folk and art". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  19. ↑ "Songs played by tour: Super Tour". setlist.fm. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  20. ↑ Sinclair, Paul (30 January 2019). "Pet Shop Boys / Inner Sanctum". Super Deluxe Edition. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  21. ↑ "Love is a Bourgeois Construct – EP by Pet Shop Boys". Apple Music . United Kingdom. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  22. ↑ "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct (Remixes) by Pet Shop Boys". Apple Music. United Kingdom. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  23. ↑ Pet Shop Boys (2013). Electric (liner notes). x2. X20003CD1.
  24. ↑ Pet Shop Boys (2013). Love is a bourgeois construct (liner notes). x2. 5060186920504.
  25. ↑ "Chart Log UK – Weekly Updates Sales 2013". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  26. ↑ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  27. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  28. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  29. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Hot Singles Sales)". Billboard . Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
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