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Can You Forgive Her?

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1993
Original album - Very
Producer - Pet Shop Boys, Stephen Hague
Subsequent albums - Disco 2, PopArt, Smash
Other releases - single (UK #7, US Dance #1)

The opening song and first single from Very is set to one of the Boys' most deliriously over-the-top arrangements. Tennant tells the poignant, almost comically pathetic story of a young man who refuses to accept his own gayness. He's persistently tormented by his girlfriend, who's aware of his insecurities (particularly with regard to his memories of love for a male school chum) and uses them against him to get him to behave according to her wishes. Neil insists that it's not autobiographical—thankfully, since he manages to evoke an almost palpable sense of self-loathing in the central character.

As he has done on more than one occasion (see "Up Against It"), Neil borrowed the song's title, but not its subject matter, from a literary work, in this case a Victorian novel by Anthony Trollope. Chris wrote the music in 6/8 time. As Neil puts it, this time-signature, which is unusual for them, "makes it sound sneaky."

By the way, one of my site visitors pointed out something that had completely evaded me for years. I had always taken the couplet that opens the second verse—

You drift into the strangest dreams
Of youthful follies and changing teams

—specifically the "changing teams" part—as simply referring to the homoerotic environment of the sports locker room, a powerful source of temptation, titillation, and fantasy for gay teenagers and adults alike, closeted or not. I'm sure that's indeed its primary meaning. But it could also be an extremely clever double entendre that uses the popular metaphor of "changing teams" to describe switching from one sex to another in choice of sexual partners, which is highly pertinent considering that the song's protagonist is struggling with his sexual orientation. I love how PSB lyrics are rich enough that you can continue to make new discoveries long after you've first heard them!

Annotations

As noted above, the song's title is borrowed from that of an 1864 novel by the British author Anthony Trollope (1815-1882).
"… you dance to disco and you don't like rock" – Surely the Boys were fully aware of the delicious irony of this line when they composed and performed it: they were essentially identifying the song's protagonist as a serious candidate for Pet Shop Boys fandom. Of course, it also plays with the stereotype that "straight" guys like rock music whereas gay guys like dance music. Like many if not most stereotypes, it's utterly false as a sweeping generalization, yet it contains enough truth to have given rise to the stereotype in the first place.
"Remember when you were more easily led / Behind the cricket pavilion and the bicycle shed" – In one of their most unforgettable couplets, it's probably no accident that the Boys employ iconic British public school imagery to decidedly subversive (not to mention homoerotic) effect.
The "Can You Forgive Her?" music video not only kicked off the increasingly computer-generated sequence of them, all directed by Howard Greenhalgh, for the Very singles, but it's also one of the most intensely surreal videos in their entire corpus, essentially an extended non sequitur with seemingly little if anything to do with the subject matter of the song. One of my site visitors, however, has noted its wealth of, shall we say, Freudian images, complete with phallic cone-hats and spikes aplenty. (The bit where the Boys' two hats intertwine is especially noteworthy from this perspective.) We both agree, however, that far from expressing the subconsciousness of the Boys and/or the director, it's more likely—if we may risk committing the intentional fallacy—a very thoughtful, tongue-in-cheek evocation of that very imagery for humorous effect, and maybe even an indirect if comical commentary on the mental state of the song's narrator. ("You drift into the strangest dreams," indeed.) And if that seems to go a bit too far afield in terms of speculative analysis, don't forget: it's an occupational hazard.

It's perhaps worth noting that the cone-shaped headgear worn by Neil and Chris, often referred to by fans as "dunce caps" (of which they are indeed reminiscent), may also be related to coroza or capirote, conical hats traditionally worn by participants in certain Roman Catholic ritual processions, including condemned heretics being marched toward execution at the stake. Of course, this may all be completely irrelevant, and the cone-hats were chosen simply because they're perplexing and, frankly, look rather silly.

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

Mixer: Stephen Hague and Mike "Spike" Drake
- Album/single version (3:54)
  - Available on Very
Mixer: Mark Kinchen
- MK Bicycle Dub (6:04)
- MK Dub (5:53)
- MK Remix (7:28)
- MK Remix Edit (4:04)
Mixer: Rollo Armstrong and Rob Dougan
- Rollo Dub (4:51)
  - An abbreviated version (4:03) appears on Disco 2
- Rollo Dub Edit (3:33)
- Rollo Remix (6:00)
  - Available on the bonus third disc ("Mix") with the "Special Edition" of PopArt
Mixer: Richard Niles and Pet Shop Boys
- Swing Version (4:55)
  - Available on certain "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" singles
Mixer: Stuart Price
- Pandemonium CD live version in medley with "Pandemonium" (4:05)

Official but unreleased

Mixer: Stuart Price
- Studio version of mashup with "Pandemonium" (4:05)
Mixer: Peter Schwartz
- Nightlife Tour studio arrangement for rehearsal (4:16)

List cross-references

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