Saturday Night Forever
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1996
Original album - Bilingual
Producer - Pet Shop Boys, Danny Tenaglia
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - (none)
It has been suggested that Bilingual can be viewed as something of a concept album with a loose storyline, its central character looking for meaning and connection in a disjointed world. Regardless of whether this is the case, it's hard to dispute that its final song, "Saturday Night Forever," is a natural outgrowth and outcome of its opening track, "Discoteca." Where "Discoteca" features a narrator superficially in search of a dance club but actually in search of communication and communion with others, in "Saturday Night Forever" he has found it, at least for one night that he wishes would last forever.
Neil (or his narrator) admits the superficiality of the dance-club scene, but revels in it nonetheless for the sense of camaraderie, excitement, and sexual energy he finds there. "I don't care!" he cries as he leaps out on the dancefloor. "I go where I go, and I get there fast! Don't stop meI know that it's not going to last!" Again, the spectre of AIDS. But, as he said in "Discoteca," he wants to "go out and carry on as normal." In "Saturday Night Forever," he does just that.
The music, by the way, is a distinct throwback to the late 'seventies heyday of disco, so much so that it seems to end prematurely after only four minutes. One would have expected an extended 12" mix. Indeed, remixes by Love to Infinity were commissioned but, for whatever reason, the decision was made not to release them officially (although they have surfaced underground).
Annotations
- Nearly everything about this song—its title, its stylistic arrangement, and its narrative theme—evokes memories of the 1977 film and soundtrack Saturday Night Fever. One of the best-selling albums of all time, Saturday Night Fever also played a pivotal role in PSB history even before there were "Pet Shop Boys." It proved extremely influential on Chris, being by his own admission the album that triggered his love of contemporary dance music before he ever met Neil.
Mixes/Versions
Officially released
- Mixer: Pet Shop Boys and Danny Tenaglia
- Album version (3:59)
Official but unreleased
- Mixer: Love to Infinity
- Love to Infinity Mix (3:42)
List cross-references
- What it's about: Neil's succinct statements on what a song is "about"
- PSB songs with lyrics that don't contain the title (in a note at the end about why this song is not included in this list)
- Early titles for Pet Shop Boys songs
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