Confidential
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1996 (Tina Turner); 1996 (PSB)
Original album - Very 2001 reissue Further Listening 1992-1994 bonus disc
Producer - Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - Format
Other releases - bonus track with single "Single-Bilingual"
This recording—first released as a bonus track on the 1996 "Single-Bilingual" CD single—was actually produced around the same time as Very, in 1993, as a demo for Tina Turner. She included her rendition (co-produced by the Boys and on which both of them play keyboards along with Neil's backing vocals) on her 1996 album Wildest Dreams. The lyrics simply relate the protagonist's assurances to someone else of his or her saddened, reluctant willingness to maintain strict confidentiality about their relationship. The downbeat minor-key melody conveys more of that sadness than do the words themselves, suggesting perhaps that the narrator isn't being completely honest, including to him- or herself. (The capacity of people for self-deception is virtually boundless.)
As performed by Tina Turner, this is most likely an extramarital heterosexual affair. But as performed by the Pet Shop Boys with Neil's lead vocal, it can very readily but not necessarily be interpreted as a secret homosexual affair between the narrator and perhaps a public figure. In some ways this song covers the same territory as "In Private," albeit with a little more accommodation and a lot less vitriol. It might also be seen as something of a companion piece to the Mark Knopfler-penned title track of Tina's hugely successful 1984 comeback album Private Dancer, to which it bears some stylistic and thematic similarities.
Mixes/Versions
Pet Shop Boys rendition:
- Mixer: Bob Kraushaar
- Demo for Tina (4:46)
Tina Turner rendition:
- Mixer: Chris Porter
- Album track (4:39)
List cross-references
- Artists with whom PSB have collaborated
- What it's about: Neil's succinct statements on what a song is "about"
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