Memory of the Future

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"Memory of the Future"
Memory Of The Future single cover.jpg
Single by Pet Shop Boys
from the album Elysium
B-side
  • "Listening"
  • "One Night"
  • "Inside"
Released31 December 2012 (2012-12-31)
Recorded2012
Genre Synth-pop
Length4:31
Label Parlophone
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Pet Shop Boys singles chronology
"Leaving"
(2012)
"Memory of the Future"
(2012)
"Axis"
(2013)
Music video
"Memory of the Future" (lyric video) on YouTube

"Memory of the Future" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their eleventh studio album, Elysium (2012). It was released on 31 December 2012 as the album's third and final single. [1] The track reached number 68 in Germany and number 111 in the United Kingdom. The single version was remixed by Stuart Price and differs notably from the album version.

Contents

Background

"Memory of the Future" was composed during a song-writing session in Berlin in early 2011. [2] Lyricist Neil Tennant described it as a straightfoward love song about "something that hasn't happened seeming so inevitable that it already feels like a memory". [3] The line "I keep tasting that sweet madeleine" is a reference to the French novel Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, in which the taste of a madeleine (a small cake) prompts an involuntary memory of the narrator's childhood. [3]

The single was promoted with a lyric video. [4] The cover photo, depicting the Pet Shop Boys with short white hair and blue eyes, was taken by Pelle Crépin and manipulated by Ashish Karora. [2]

Stuart Price was asked to make the single version more electronic. In addition to the differences in the arrangement, the single is approximately a minute shorter than the album version and has a faster tempo. [2] After the release of "Memory of the Future", Pet Shop Boys went on to work with Price on a trilogy of albums starting with Electric .

Track listings

CD single / digital download [5]
No.TitleLength
1."Memory of the Future" (new single mix)3:36
2."Listening"4:19
3."One Night"4:06
4."Inside"2:54
CD single – Remixed [6]
No.TitleLength
1."Memory of the Future" (Stuart Price Extended Mix)5:23
2."Memory of the Future" (Ulrich Schnauss Remix)4:37
3."Memory of the Future" (DJ Waldo Squash Remix)4:00
4."Memory of the Future" (Digital Dog Club Remix)6:19
5."Memory of the Future" (Digital Dog Dub)5:35

Charts

Chart performance for "Memory of the Future"
Chart (2013)Peak
position
Germany (GfK) [7] 68
UK Singles (OCC) [8] 111
US Dance Singles Sales ( Billboard ) [9] 1
US Hot Singles Sales ( Billboard ) [10] 2

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References

  1. "Memory of the Future CD Single". petshopboysshop.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Heath, Chris (2017). Elysium: Further Listening 2011–2012 (booklet). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone Records. 0190295852788.
  3. 1 2 Tennant, Neil (2018). One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem: 1979–2016. London: Faber & Faber. p. 124. ISBN   9780571348916.
  4. "Memory Of The Future lyric video". YouTube. 3 December 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  5. "Memory of the Future single". discogs.org. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  6. "Memory of the Future Remixed single". discogs.org. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  7. "Pet Shop Boys – Memory of the Future" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  8. Chart Log UK: "CLUK Update 12.01.2013 (wk1)". UK Singles Chart. Zobbel.de. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  9. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  10. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Hot Singles Sales)". Billboard . Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2020.