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The Former Enfant Terrible

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 2009
Original album - Format
Producer - Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - Fundamental 2017 reissue Further Listening 2005-2007 bonus disc; Yes 2017 reissue Further Listening 2008-2010 bonus disc
Other releases - bonus track with single "Did You See Me Coming?"

Chris and Neil composed this song in late April 2005. Four years later, Chris wrote on the Pet Shop Boys' Twitter page that they would release it as one of the bonus tracks on the second single from Yes. It's available in both its "original" version and as a remix.

The French part of the title, pronounced "awn-fawn tair-EE-bluh" and meaning "terrible child," is commonly used to refer to a highly talented young person with a reputation for scandalously bad behavior. The titular protagonist is described in the following deprecating manner:

Pity him, the former enfant terrible
His career in aspic, bent on pleasure
Gamely attempting the tricky transition
From ageing outrage to national treasure

The caustic lyrics, uttered (not sung) throughout by Neil, alternate between a shouted chorus mouthed by the "former enfant terrible" himself ("Gimme a bandwagon and I'll jump on it!") and verses more calmly but sneeringly spoken by a thoroughly disapproving commentator ("He won't be happy 'til he's in the House of Lords"). This has proven sufficient to make fans wonder whether, as in the case of "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?" this track is about a specific real-life celebrity—and, if so, whom? There's no shortage of candidates. But Neil cleared this up somewhat in the July 2009 issue of the Boys' official fan club magazine Literally when he revealed that the song "was kind of inspired by Mick Jagger getting a knighthood"—though he immediately added, "but it's not just that."

Musically the track is adventuresome: "techno" in the extreme, its backing track is dominated by what sounds like a repeating analog synth pattern. Essentially lacking a melody, it's been compared by some fans to the similarly experimental, similarly almost tuneless "The Sound of the Atom Splitting"—although, at least to this listener's ears, it's a significant improvement on that much earlier work.

Annotations

Enfant terrible – A French phrase meaning "terrible child," commonly used idiomatically in English to refer to an extremely talented young person with a reputation for just as extremely bad behavior. So "the former enfant terrible" must be a grown man who, in his youthful stardom, was rather on the wild side.
As noted above, this song was partly (but not exclusively) inspired by Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger receiving a knighthood from the Queen in 2003. To be sure, Mick Jagger might indeed be considered "a former enfant terrible," although I strongly suspect that many if not most of the criticisms implicitly leveled in the song aren't actually directed toward him.
"His career in aspic" – An aspic is a dish in which ingredients (usually meat or vegetables) are set in a geletin made from meat broth. Often leftovers are put in aspic in order to preserve them and prolong their "edible life" since the geletin serves to keep out air and bacteria. Thus a "career in aspic" is still active but has clearly seen its better, "fresher" days.
"'Gimme a bandwagon and I'll jump on it!'" – To "jump on a bandwagon" is American slang (though now obviously well known in Britain as well) that dates back to the late 1800s, when politicians would sometimes hire circus bandwagons (colorful horsedrawn vehicles design to carry circus bands in parades) for their own campaign parades. Therefore people who began supporting a politician—especially latecomers to a campaign that appeared to be destined for victory—were said to be "jumping on the bandwagon." Today this metaphor is used more commonly to describe the act of joining a popular or "trendy" cause.
"If you don't like it you'll be lumpin' it!" – More slang, nowadays more popular with children than anyone else. "If you don't like it, you can lump it" simply means, "Too bad—there's nothing you can do about it." In this case the verb "to lump" means to slouch in a dejected manner, a definition that apparently dates all the way back to the 1500s. The first recorded use of "like it or lump it" comes from the mid-1800s.
"He won't be happy till he's in the House of Lords" – A bit of sarcastic overstatement—or is it? The House of Lords is the upper "aristocratic" (but, in modern times, less powerful) chamber of the U.K. Parliament. Membership in the House of Lords is traditionally attained most often by appointment by the monarch, though a minority of the seats are held by virtue of hereditary peerages.
"Although the midweek's a disaster" – A reference to the sales figures announced for music albums and singles in the U.K. during the period between the officially weekly chart publications on Sundays. Most often announced on Wednesdays or Thursdays, these figures are known as "midweeks" and are viewed as a strong indication of how the records in question will end up charting "officially" at the end of the week. Obviously the titular subject of this song is in the music industry but isn't nearly as commercially successful as he once was.
"Bring it on!" – This line, used twice in the lyric, including at the very end (and after which a remix of the track is named), echoes former U.S. President George W. Bush's notoriously arrogant, ill-advised 2003 invitation to opposing forces in Iraq, "Bring 'em on!" Its use in this song probably also suggests ill-advised arrogance on the part of "the former enfant terrible," whoever he is.

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

Mixer: Pet Shop Boys and Pete Gleadall
- Single b-side version (2:55)
  - Also on the "Further Listening" bonus disc accompanying the 2017 Fundamental reissue
Mixer: Pet Shop Boys
- Bring It On Mix (7:23)
  - Available on one of the Yes 2017 reissue Further Listening 2008-2010 bonus discs

List cross-references

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