I made my excuses and left
My initial reaction was to label this as a Behaviour-like ballad, but then the sound of trains, screeching on rails, underground echoes and city sounds took me back to Please/Actually. Either way the melody and theme are classic Pet Shop Boys.
Gorgeous melancholic strings accompany a moment snatched from reality. Neil’s elegantly simple lyrics show the pathos of a look exchanged by a couple, counterbalanced by the embarrassment of the unrequited lover. “A silence filled the room, awkward as an elephant” – perfect.
This song also contains my favourite line on the album, the first to really leap out into my ears. “In the crowded court of your love I was now a supplicant”. I’m sure that’s Philip Sidney or John Donne, but I haven’t been able to trace it. It’s certainly in the same lyrical style.
