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Se A Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)

Writers - Tennant/Ademario/Negra/Do Barbalho/Lowe
First released - 1996
Original album - Bilingual
Producer - Pet Shop Boys, Chris Porter
Subsequent albums - PopArt, Pandemonium, Ultimate, Inner Sanctum, Smash
Other releases - single (UK #8, US Dance Sales #8)

Neil says that this song was written to cheer up a depressed friend. The melody, much of the arrangement, and even the title was adapted from a Brazilian song—"Estrada Da Paixão" by the group Olodum—that the Boys had encountered and enjoyed during their South American tour. Hence they properly gave that song's composers a co-writing credit. The intensely rhythmic percussion was provided by She-Boom, an all-woman drum corps.

The words "se a vida é," meant to be translated "that's the way life is," actually means "If life is." It's therefore an instance of bad Portuguese and borders on nonsense within the context of the song. But Neil never claimed to be fluent in the language. Nevertheless, it sounds good. And the song itself has emerged as a latter-day PSB concert staple, never failing to spread its infectiously cheery air through a crowd.

Annotations

"Se a vida é" – As noted above, this is bad Portuguese that's supposed to mean "That's the way life is," but really doesn't; it actually comes out more like "If life is."
Also to reiterate a point made above, the melody, arrangement, and title line were adapted from the song "Estrada Da Paixão" (which means "Road of [the] Passion") by the Brazilian band Olodum.
"Essa vida é" – Portuguese, "This life is" (probably more "bad Portuguese," in this case intended to mean "That's life").
"So don't search in the stars for signs of love" – Neil (or at least his lyrical persona) apparently has doubts about astrology. This isn't the only instance in which such doubts are expressed (see "Closer to Heaven").
"You gotta throw those skeletons out of the closet" – An allusion to the old English idiom "skeletons in the closet" (sometimes rendered "skeletons in the cupboard"), which refers to secrets about someone that, if revealed, would have a negative effect on how others view them. It's also possible that the Boys' usage of the phrase might draw upon the well-known metaphor about how gay people who hide their sexuality are "in the closet," but that alternate layer of potential meaning is hardly essential to interpreting the line.
I'm going to go way out on a limb here, but I've long had the theory (and, mind you, it's only a theory) that the depressed friend that Neil wanted to try to cheer up with the lyrics to this song—and whom Neil has never, to my knowledge, publicly identified—may be none other that Chris Lowe himself. Chris's good friend and housemate (and rumored lover) Peter Andreas had passed away from complications of AIDS in 1994, just two years before this song was released, and it's quite reasonable to assume that Chris would have been deeply depressed about it. And please don't make too much of the song's assertion "I love you." It's safe to assume that Neil and Chris have a great brotherly love for each other as best friends and close collaborators for more than 40 years. Whatever the case, again, that's just my theory and nothing more. Take it for what it's worth, which may be virtually nothing.

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

Mixer: Chris Porter
- Album/single version (4:01)
  - Available on Bilingual
Mixer: Richard Morel
- Pink Noise Mix (5:38)
  - Available on the Bilingual "Special Edition" bonus disc
Mixer: Mark Picchiotti
- Mark Picchiotti's Deep and Dark Vocal (7:59)
- Mark Picchiotti's Shelter Deep and Dark Instrumental (7:53)
- Mark Picchiotti's Shelter Dub (8:40)
Mixer: Deep Dish

Deep Dish Liquid Remix (9:57)
Deep Dish Dub (11:47)

Mixer: Stuart Price
- Pandemonium CD live version in medley with "Discoteca," "Domino Dancing," and "Viva la Vida" (6:00)
- Inner Sanctum CD live version (4:16)

List cross-references

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