I Will Fall

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 2023
Original album - Lost (EP)
Producer - Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - (none)

Written in July 2015 during the period leading up to the recording of Super, Neil says that it was the last song that he and Chris composed for the album, although they ultimately decided against including it. It's a love song that Neil "can imagine George Michael singing." It wouldn't see release until April 2023 on the EP Lost.

An uptempo number though with a somewhat somber sound, it emphasizes the concept of "falling" in the idiom "falling in love." In so doing, it almost (but I stress almost) manages to make falling in love sound like not such a wonderful thing. "I will fall into your arms as soon as you call," proclaims the narrator, later adding, "For I recall the moment I knew this was once and for all." In making this assertion, he also observes that he "will fall into the future." The two of them will presumably be spending their futures together, yet it sounds as if it's something he has no control over. And Neil has pointed out that this idea of falling certainly involves the potential for harm, as in falling down and hurting oneself.

In the end, however, there is an element of choice and control. "Come away with me," he says, repeating that plea over and over again, alternating it with the title phrase. He doesn't altogether surrender control, nor does he avoid recognizing his lover's options. It's a subtly fascinating song, one that revels in love while at the same time hinting at its perhaps darker sides.

As a side note, a rather subtle aspect of the song's production is that, during the first 45 seconds or so of its introductory instrumental passage, one of the underlying synth lines constantly moves back and forth between the left and right stereo channels. A "demo" this track may be (though does it still truly qualifies as such given its release?), yet our musical heroes still care enough to provide such small, by no means innovative, but nevertheless ingenious touches.

Annotations

once and for all – This phrase, which appears repeatedly in this song, is an English-language cliché that means "conclusively" or "now and for the last time." It often, though not always, carries connotations of exasperation and/or desperation. Its first known occurrence in print is in Sir Walter Scott's 1814 novel Waverley, although based on very similar phrases (such as "once for all," without the "and") that appear in print much earlier, it's believed actually to date back at least to the 14^th or 15^th century.

List cross-references

This song doesn't appear in any of my lists.

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