Girls Don't Cry
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 2006
Original album - Format
Producer - Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - Fundamental 2017 reissue Further Listening 2005-2007 bonus disc
Other releases - bonus track with single "I'm with Stupid"
The official PSB website reported that during the week of February 13, 2006, the Boys were working on this track, released as one of the bonus tracks with the single "I'm with Stupid." It was inspired by the 1999 film Boys Don't Cry, which told the true story of the Nebraska teenager Brandon Teena, who was born a girl but lived as a boy, which led to her being brutally raped and murdered in 1992.
Often artists themselves, by their own admission, aren't 100% certain of the meaning (or meanings) of their own work. Despite its known source of inspiration, such is the case with this song. As Neil says in the July 2006 issue of Literally,
"The song is a story about a girl who I think is maybe a lesbian, but actually we don't know what's happened really. She's running away. She's possibly killed her boyfriend, she's possibly leaving town because they've discovered she's having a lesbian affair, she's possibly pregnant and her boyfriend's rejected her. We just don't know…."
The relatively brief midtempo track describes a suburban teenager whose "instincts lead a different way." She dresses and acts like a boy, which results in her having to endure harsh taunts ("words that could almost murder"). Nevertheless, she bears them as best she can: "Whatever boys say, girls don't cry." Neil twice refers to this being "the final day," therefore suggesting that the song's central character—possibly Brandon Teena herself, but possibly a parallel imaginary figure—may very soon be killed.
As one of my site visitors has speculated, the protagonist of this song—or at least of the final verse—may not be the "Brandon Teena figure" at all, but rather a girlfriend who survives:
In the pocket by her heart is a dog-eared polaroid
A picture of a girl with her arm 'round a boy
Who went missing the final day
If this is indeed the case, then the "boy who went missing" may be the character directly inspired by Brandon Teena.
It's little more than a snapshot of a song, yet the Pet Shop Boys manage to imbue their protagonist with a distinct aura of heroism. She maintains her dignity simply by continuing to be who she is in the face of mindless hatred. In this sense, despite death, she triumphs.
In more recent years, Neil has asserted much more directly that "Girls Don't Cry" is "about a girl who murdered her boyfriend," adding, "You don't know really what the motive is." In light of this, I suppose that any possible "heroism" she might possess would depend on that motive.
Annotations
- As noted above, this song was inspired by the 1999 film Boys Don't
Cry, which related the true, tragic story of transgender Nebraska teenager Brandon Teena.
- "Hitching out west with a personal stereo playing 'Lay Lady Lay'" – "Lay Lady Lay" is a 1969 Bob Dylan song that became one of his biggest hit singles. It's almost certainly used in this song to underscore the sexual preferences of the protagonist.
- "In the pocket by her heart is a dog-eared Polaroid" – Until the 1980s, people who wanted "instant" photographs had no choice but to rely on Polaroid cameras, which were first introduced to the general public in 1948. Polaroid photos weren't actually "instant," but seeing as how the pictures "developed" before your eyes in a matter of only about a minute or so, they certainly seemed instant compared the alternative, standard film that required development in a dark room or with sophisticated equipment; for most people this meant sending exposed film away for processing. Nowadays, with the advent of digital cameras, traditional film technologies are largely falling by the wayside. In fact, the Polaroid Corporation announced in 2008 that it would cease production of Polaroid film. So, before too much longer, the word "polaroid" will probably become rather obscure, an essentially historical artifact along the lines of "daguerreotype." (Incidentally, "Polaroid" is a trademarked term that properly begins with a capital P, even when used to refer to a photograph taken with a Polaroid camera.)
- A debate arose online among fans in January 2020 (at least, that's when I first became aware of it) that perhaps there ought to be a comma after "Girls" in the title phrase "Girls Don't Cry." This opinion works on the assumption that the song's narrator is directly addressing girls in general and is offering them the advice "Whatever boys say, girls, don't cry." This follows the standard punctuation rule that nouns of direct address should always be separated from the rest of the sentence with commas, regardless of where they appear in a sentence. On the other hand, if the narrator is not addressing girls in general but is instead articulating the thoughts of the song's central character, who may be trying to assure and bolster herself that she mustn't cry in response to something one or more boys have said to her—in other words, it's a simple statement of desired fact—then there should indeed not be a comma following the word "girls." So whether the Boys have made a punctuation error depends on how one interprets the line. Indeed, the assumption that there's no error helps point to a particular interpretation.
List cross-references
- Evidence that death haunts "the Fundamental era"
- Pop songs mentioned by title in the lyrics of PSB songs
- What it's about: Neil's succinct statements on what a song is "about"
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