The Only One
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1999
Original album - Nightlife
Producer - Pet Shop Boys, Craig Armstrong
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - (none)
The Boys wrote an early version of this song—initially called "Am I the Only One?"—in early July 1997. They've said, only half-jokingly, that it exemplifies how they might sound if they were among the teen-idol "boy groups", like the Backstreet Boys and 'N-Sync, dominating the pop charts at the time. In fact, they had considered including it in their musical Closer to Heaven as a song written by the character of "Straight Dave" as a possible springboard for his own music career.
So, appropriately enough, this is lyrically a rather mundane little song in which the narrator wonders aloud whether he's "the only one" for his lover, and vice-versa. The melody, however, is quite pretty, and the song overall, taken seriously, is a touching declaration of love. By contemporary boy-group standards it qualifies as a near-masterpiece. The best thing, in fact, about this track is its superb, imaginative production. Just listen to the way Neil and Chris slink their way into it with soft, subtle electronic squiggles and burps after the almost chaotic excitement of the previous song.
Annotations
- Neil has suggested that part of the inspiration for this song, or at least its title, can be traced back to a line in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy, a characteristic that it shares with a line from their earlier song "To Face the Truth."
Mixes/Versions
Officially released
- Mixer: Mark "Spike" Stent
- Album version (4:21)
Official but unreleased
- Mixer: [unknown at this time]
- Demo (4:14)
List cross-references
- The key signatures of selected PSB songs
- PSB songs for which the Boys have acknowledged the influence of specific tracks by other artists
- What it's about: Neil's succinct statements on what a song is "about"
- Early titles for Pet Shop Boys songs
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