Pet Shop Boys Songs Ranked
Pet Shop Boys are an English synthpop duo, formed in London in 1981 and consisting of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Pet Shop Boys have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records. Three-time Brit Award winners and six-time Grammy nominees, since 1984 they have achieved 42 Top 30 singles, 22 of the Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart, including four UK number ones: “West End Girls” (also number one on the US Billboard Hot 100), “It’s a Sin”, a synthpop version of “Always on My Mind”, and “Heart”. Other hit songs include a cover of “Go West”, “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)”, and “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” in a duet with Dusty Springfield. With five US top ten singles in the 1980s, they are associated with the Second British Invasion. Here are all of Pet Shop Boys songs ranked.
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20. Being Boring (Behaviour, 1990)
“This song is about the ideals that you have when you’re young, and how they turn out.” If you watch the clip (which is one of my favorites), you feel sad because you remember those times where all you cared about was having fun with your friends. This song is also about nostalgy, souvenirs, looking back to the past, and realizing you’ve become “the creature” you’ve always meant to be. The song is not depressing, it’s beautifully sad and profound. Listen to it, and you’ll remember your friends, your family members, your early loves, those people you’ll never see again, and that you’ll truly never forget. One of the best of 90’s.”
19. Love Comes Quickly (Please, 1986)
“Foreboding and sedate despite its surface luster. The singer gives us a spine-tingling, radiant falsetto. There’s nothing here that you can really grab onto because of the ephemeral mood of the song, yet nothing is missing from it either. It completes itself like a mystical serpent devouring its own tail. And it keeps the momentum cycling on and on and on at a perpetual and hypnotic pace.”
18. Rent (Actually, 1987)
“I love Pet Shop Boys always have always will….best song to dance to is RENT. Use this upbeat song to work out at gym or dance alone in my living room.”
17. New York City Boy (Inner Sanctum, 2019)
“Basically, this song is describing the major parts of New York. If you listen to some of their other songs, you’ll hear references to Broadway and other New York places, such as in The Theatre. It’s talking about the big city life of NYC and how there’s an endless range of things to do around there, the shopping, the plays, the historical landmarks, and so on.”
See more: Pet Shop Boys Albums Ranked
16. I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing (Very, 1993)
“This is one of The Pet Shop Boys best! Listening to it makes me want to take off all my clothes, and dance to the rite of spring . . .”
15. Yesterday, When I Was Mad (Very, 1993)
“It is definitely about Tennant and Lowe and their huge success (both made such a little go a very long way) and there seems to be someone, from their past, who slagged them off or left them high and dry in the past NOW saying how wonderful they are…yeah that would make me seeth. Maybe he’s saying, well, if it were yesterday, then I would have killed you. Today I will grit my teeth in the knowledge that I have to take all compliments, particularly from you, with a proverbial pinch of salt.”
14. So Hard (Behaviour, 1990)
“The song So Hard is about how hard it is to maintain a relationship, particularly when each member in the relationship is both unfaithful and suspicious of the other.”
13. Was It Worth It? (Behaviour, 1990)
“The lyrics of this song made many people think that the Pet Shop Boys were hanging up the disco-pop and going into a graceful retirement. This is very much a ‘summation’ song; summing up a career and asking the very basic question we all often ask of great tasks in our lives: Was it worth it?”
12. Love Etc. (Yes, 2009)
“The song is about the hollowness of living the material life without love; certainly a well-worn topic, but the boys manage to craft a solid single. The song has a catchy if repetitive chorus – You need more/ you need more/ you need more/ you need loooooove. I prefer the verses, with background singers chanting phrases like “don’t have to have” leading into Neil enumerating various trappings of money, such as “a house in Beverly Hills.””
11. Can You Forgive Her? (Very, 1993)
“A fairly obvious one, this. A man who is in love with a woman, who also feels sexual attraction to men. His love for the woman is platonic, his attraction to men is sexual, and he is ashamed of it, and she knows it.”
10. Left to My Own Devices (Introspective, 2009)
“Left To My Own Devices is actually a really well-composed song. The chord choices are a little more sophisticated than the average synthpop song. Great production and entertaining lyrics as well. I think I slightly prefer the album version, but that’s probably just because I heard that version first.”
9. Go West (Very, 1993)
“It is a pretty catchy and fun to listen to dance pop number, but unfortunately it also feels pretty cheesy. I have no idea what the lyrics are trying to say, is this a pro communist song? I don’t know, whatever it is I don’t care much for it. Overall good and enjoyable pop song, though it is a bit silly I don’t mind listening to it from time to time.”
8. Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money) (Please, 1986)
“A bit strange, this one. The production is deliberately over the top, which you think would make this either goofy-funny or ridiculous-stupid. And it’s not like those qualities aren’t present, in very modest doses. But there’s something vaguely unsettling and dark about the song that keeps the goofiness way out on the fringes.”
7. Heart (Actually, 1987)
“This could be my all-time top Pet Shop Boys single. “Heart” is a perfect pop song; it’s even got a false ending. And those lyrics really get to me, taking me right back to the infatuations of my youth.
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6. What Have I Done to Deserve This? (Actually, 1987)
“After listening to this classic, you will realize what a loss Dusty is to pop music. This is a match made in heaven with Dusty just shining through. Her perfect vocals soar especially towards the end and you wonder why she stayed away for so long, why she wasn’t a bigger star than she was…white lady soul.. unrivaled. She should be made a saint. Neil and Chris must be thanked for allowing a whole new generation to appreciate Dusty through this inspired collaboration, and for producing one last album of hers.”
5. Always on My Mind (Introspective, 1988)
“By far one of my favorite Pet Shop Boys songs that deserves a lot more fame and acknowledgment. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a song that packs so much love, emotion, and beauty into it. To the point where it makes me feel like I want to cry.”
4. Domino Dancing (Introspective, 1988)
“The Pet Shop Boys make maximum use of instrumentation here to create a sound that is almost hypnotic in its urgency. Unique lyrics that give heft to vocals that are smooth and cool. Great ear candy with a trumpet in the middle that is outstanding. As a matter of fact, you hear everything here and it works.”
3. It’s a Sin (Actually, 2009)
“This is not their best, but it epitomizes the dynamic sound that the Pet Shop Boys can create, while being totaling melodic musically and sincere lyrically. They have a rare talent for holding up a mirror to our society, but not in a condescending or threatening manner. Ear candy with a relevance.”
2. Suburbia (Yes, 2009)
“I always thought this song was near-great. Like with just a tweak here or there, this would be five-star material. But what to tweak? The only part that sounds undeniably perfect to me is the bridge – the “I only wanted something else to do but hang around” part. It sounds angry, insistent, even destructive. The verses have a couple of lines that don’t rate, and the chorus seems a bit thin and sing-song-y.”
1. West End Girls (West End Girls, 1984)
“This song has more than a good bassline, it has warming lyrics, a nice vocalist singing the song. Not only the best, is also one of the best pop songs ever made. Listen this song is like taking drugs.”