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Here

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 2002
Original album - Release
Producer - Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - Disco 3
Other releases - (none)

This song traces its genesis back to the Boys' musical Closer to Heaven. Originally titled "Home" (which does strike me as a more appropriate title), it was going to be sung by the characters of Vic and Billie to Dave as they try to console him after the death of Lee. Dave is seriously considering shucking it all and hopping back on the next boat back to Ireland. But Vic and Billie ask him to stay, persuading him that he has indeed found a home in London with his new friends and his new life: "You've got a home here." Neil, Chris, and their collaborator on the musical, Jonathan Harvey, decided to cut this number late in the show's development. Instead, it appears here in a modified form. The lyrics simply extol the importance of having a place you can call "home," a place where you feel safe, comfortable, and contented. The narrator is telling someone—obviously someone about whom he cares a great deal—that home is "here" with him.

It's interesting to note that the track's recurring synthesizer riff bears a marked similarity to the principal synth line from the Flirts' classic 1982 post-disco song "Passion," written and produced by Bobby O—an important name in the Boys' early history. (It shares this characteristic with the "Ambient Mix" of their 1991 song "Music for Boys.") "Passion" has been cited by Chris and Neil as a particular influence on their decision to forge a career in music. As it turns out, this particular influence would soon become less pronounced. The Pet Shop Boys remixed and somewhat fleshed out the song—some would say they dramatically improved it as well—and released the newer version on the subsequent Disco 3 album.

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

Official but unreleased

List cross-references

 

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