Dancing in the Dusk
Writers - Sondre Lerche
First released - 2017
Original album - Fundamental 2017 reissue Further Listening 2005-2007 bonus disc
Producer - Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - (none)
This song was written by Norwegian singer Sondre Lerche, whom Neil and Chris met during a visit to Italy in 2005. After returning to England, the Boys recorded a demo of the song at Lerche's request, apparently with an eye toward him using their arrangement for his own eventual studio recording. They arranged and recorded it a style reminiscent of Tango in the Night-era Fleetwood Mac. As Neil told Sondre in discussing their demo, "I'm meant to be Lindsay Buckingham," then adding, "You're Stevie Nicks."
In February 2007 it was reported in the Norwegian press that a collaborative Lerche/PSB rendition would appear on Lerche's forthcoming album, and Neil confirmed at the time that he had recently recorded vocals for it. But, as it turned out, Lerche's next album didn't include it, nor has it appeared on any other Lerche release thus far. As late as April 2014, however (according to the October 2014 issue of the PSB Fan Club publication Literally), there was still talk between Sondre and the Boys of his finally getting around to recording and releasing it. But perhaps Lerche simply gave up on recording it himself; instead, the PSB demo was released in 2017 as a bonus track with the reissue of Fundamental.
Lerche's lyrics are an extended metaphor, only thinly veiled, for a heterosexual man's struggle between his desire to be faithful to his lover (perhaps but not necessarily his wife) and the temptations posed by other women, described as a "flock of gulls"—a playful bit of figurative language that draws upon both the similar sound of the word "girls" and the image of a frantic gaggle of birds. (A pop star's groupies, perhaps?) Yes, he clearly loves his lover/wife, yet finds himself "dancing in the dusk," an ambiguous phrase that could refer either (or maybe both) to his sexual dalliances and/or his side-stepping efforts to escape those temptations. Whatever the case, toward the end of the song he affirms his love with the line "I'd never bother if you were just another girl." In other words, he wouldn't even try not to succumb to temptation if she weren't so very special to him and he didn't love her so much.
List cross-references
All text on this website aside from direct quotations (such as of lyrics and of other nonoriginal content) is copyright © 2001-2017 by Wayne Studer. All Rights Reserved. All lyrics and images are copyright © their respective dates by their respective owners. Brief quotations and small, low-resolution images are used for identification and critical commentary, thereby constituting Fair Use under U.S. copyright law. Billboard chart data are copyright © their respective dates by Nielsen Business Media, Inc.