Oh, Dear
(aka Walking Down the High Street)
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
Unreleased
Another pre-stardom track, less successful musically than "Bubadubadubadum," with which it was included (along with an early version of "Jealousy") on a 1982 cassette tape used by the Boys in their earliest efforts to gain the attention of record companies. Again it's just Neil on vocals and Chris on two synth lines (instrumental melody and bass), but this time the song isn't strong enough to be sustained by such sparse production.
The lyrics, however, are quite daring for such an early work: "I was walking down the high street in the middle of the night. Someone caught my eye and I nearly died of fright. He crossed the road to whisper to me, a secret in my ear. And now I know I'll never be the same again—oh, dear!" Daring indeed—not to mention very amusing. It's fascinating to see that dry wit of theirs at work even at this embryonic stage of their career.
Annotations
- "Walking down the high street" - In Britain the main or most important street in a town is often referred to as the "high street." In the United States, the same street might be described even more informally as the "main drag."
- The opening melody of "Oh, Dear" (or something very close to it) would later resurface, in a different key, in the opening lines of the PSB song "A Man Could Get Arrested."
List cross-references
- "Documented" officially unreleased songs written by the Pet Shop Boys
- The early tracks that the Pet Shop Boys recorded with Ray Roberts and Bobby 'O'
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