This song is a Cover of a Village People song. It's a quite politically influenced song in both versions. The Village People original was basically a Gay Anthem, calling for young gay men to move into the the liberal cities of the US West, as basically a gay colonization. The Pet Shop Boys Version, released in the early 90's was basically a Anthem for the Post-Soviet Eastern Bloc, for the former Warsaw Pact Countries to move to the liberal west, either by themselves opening up to it, or their people moving towards the West. Thus the massive amount of Soviet Iconography.

THis song was big in my clubbing days in the early 90s and it SLAPPED!!!

Most of my generation didn't care what the song was about. It had a killer beat, and we danced our asses off to it. We knew the words, but the sound and beat were more important to us. We didn't learn lessons from songs, we learned lessons from life. Music in my time was about having fun and forgetting our troubles and none of it was about politics. Life is serious enough, but when we went out, we wanted to have a drink and dance to forget our problems. We would go home and the next day deal with real world problems.

Think of the time it was released! End of Cold War, fall of the Soviet Union, the West saw itself as history's winner. AND it's a Village People cover, so the PSB didn't write it but payed tribute to 😉 I was mesmerized by this song and the Russian choir back in 1993!

@SephPlays

Жыл бұрын

So did you hear this when it first came out?

@ingvarjensen1088

Жыл бұрын

@@SephPlays Oh yes, dear, I was 28 back then, now 58 (OK, on my little picture). I had the pleasure to follow the Pet Shop Boys right from their beginnings. Although I grew up behind the wall in the communist East Germany I still listened to West German radio stations and taped every song I could get. I really appreciate your response, thank you very much 🤗

@SephPlays

Жыл бұрын

It's very interesting to hear this actually! So was you born there or did you move there? What was it like in the 80's and 90's? Haha sorry for all the questions 😅

@ingvarjensen1088

Жыл бұрын

@@SephPlays Of course I was born there 😉 No one I knew went from the West to the East, but many people left the East for the West, often under dangerous circumstances. Some even lost their lives. On the other hand we all had a normal childhood. My greatest hobby was pop music and I feel lucky that I grew up in the 80s, because in General I think it was the era with the best pop music. I spent hours listening to West German hit parades. I always waited impatiently to hear the next single by Eurythmics, Human League, OMD, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, Bananarama, a-ha, ABC, New Order and so on. Great times. And when the wall had come down (meanwhile I lived in East Berlin and still do) I spent a fortune to buy all the records I couldn't buy before. I roamed second-hand record shops in West Berlin, London, Paris, Stockholm and Copenhagen. My collection is huge today. I can tell a story to nearly every 80s song and I still enjoy them.

@SephPlays

Жыл бұрын

Such a difference between what you grew up with and whats available now. Back then you had to wait to hear your favourite songs. Now days its just a few taps away on the Internet. Personally think we have lost something in the process ya know?

The male chorus in the song is fabulous!

@william678910

7 ай бұрын

its top notch, never heard something like this before in an 80's song

It was originally a song by the Village People. Pet Shop Boys' changed it so radically that I think they've got some writing credits for this version. Several Pet Shop songs have gay and Russian references since Neil Tennant is gay and studied Russian history; this song has both. I wouldn't worry about current events.

@SephPlays

Жыл бұрын

i think you are right! At the end of the day its just a song "And a very good one at that!"

@crisgriffin3042

Жыл бұрын

This song is from 1993 year album, so in those times was just in general a lot of hope for Russia to choose the better way(and not like there was no reason for that). As a Russian citizen myself, yup it didn't aged well, we screwed everything up a big time after 2000. -_-

@frakte

Жыл бұрын

If you listen to the original Village People version, it’s not nearly as melodic. PSB incorporated the chords from Pachelbel’s Canon into the melody to make it more tuneful. The original version of the song portrayed California as a gay utopia (this was pre-AIDS). When PSB released their version in 1993, the AIDS epidemic was at its peak and lent the song a sense of bitter irony. At the same time, the Soviet Union had recently collapsed, and the boundaries between East and West had fallen as well. There was a sense of optimism that democracy would hold sway in Russia, which gave the song a double meaning. Things more or less reversed since then; treatments for HIV became available, so it was no longer quite the death sentence it had been, and Vladimir Putin took over Russia. We all know how well that turned out…

@secretsymphony

Жыл бұрын

@@frakte I'm old enough to remember, nevertheless, well explained 👍

@Pacalo

Жыл бұрын

PSB had credits on this because they added a complete new verse, a "middle eight" section, not present at all on the Village People version...

It’s a cover of The Village People (YMCA, anyone). Much loved by the fans when performed live.

@SephPlays

Жыл бұрын

This is pretty shocking actually! As i wouldnt have said this sounds anything like YMCA.. To my ears atleast!

@booblys2

Жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/pGV9xNKclbSZgqQ.html

@3anaurv2

Жыл бұрын

For some reasons a lot of fans are fed up with this one, although Very is considered as one of their very best album. It was a much better song that should have been there as the closer, Shameless. Give it a try

@jivebunny3765

Жыл бұрын

@@3anaurv2 I'm not fed up with it. The problem with it, at least for me, is that the Neil and Chris have taken to butchering it live.

Every time I hear this song, I think of the movie Longtime Companion when they are remembering their friends and loved ones who've passed away from HIV.

A hidden gem by these two! Just great. Better than YMCA. Watch the video of them at Hyde Park in 2019. They sing this and some of their other hits. Incredible concert!

Keep it on, keep it on!!

I love the key change near the end and also how Neil trades with the male chorus and sings what they’ve been singing. What a great song. Still remember exactly where I was when i first heard it (on my Sony Walkman)

I think you have got the wrong idea about this. It’s basically about Russia or mor correctly the USSR , opening up and allowing it’s citizens to go west, into the western world, basically America, it is not about invasion Also it’s another older song completely reimagined by them.

@SephPlays

Жыл бұрын

Well thats alot better then what i was thinking... Amazing song to be sure!

@garymatthews4323

Жыл бұрын

@@SephPlays the first version I have found is by the Village People from 1979,it’s about promoting the west coast of America as a great place to live and harks back to the early settlers heading west to make their fortune. This version from 1994 was as I said about the fall of communism and inviting Russians into the rest of the world.

@SephPlays

Жыл бұрын

@@garymatthews4323 This is pretty shocking actually! As i wouldnt have said this sounds anything like YMCA.. To my ears atleast!

@SonomaBill1

Жыл бұрын

@@SephPlays maybe this helps connect. It's waaay like ymca. in fact, the two songs were used as a medley in the clubs back in the day. PSB may have updated the imagery to invoke the fall of the iron curtain, but the 70's original was all about the great gay migration to San Francisco in the late seventies. kzread.info/dash/bejne/Y6uXj6OKepWzidI.html

@stevenklein3195

9 ай бұрын

Great comment and insight and spot on! After the fall of the Wall on breakup of the USSR, the westernizing of the former European republics

'go west' i.e. to the US, to the land of opportunities where 'life is peaceful there' and we can be free etc. Not whatever you are imagining.

a good, considerate reaction of you... the album very was full of great synth sounds and the single videos were arctistically valuable

This was 1993 and back then life was peaceful there. I know it's not now and I have to live in the middle of it. I was 22 when this came out and now am 52 and live in Texas USA. I see a lot of younger people talk about how cool the 80s and 90s were mostly because of the music, but also it seemed like we were having fun. Most of that fun was that people back then could have political differences and still get along without pulling punches or a gun. The USA has gone trigger happy. You are worried about being controversial. I'm Gen X and we were controversial on purpose. We made a statement that we will be heard and if you get offended then move back home to mommies.

Meaning the song promise land

It's of course about America - Russia moods at the times. Also about freedom that you might bet in the west, while eastern countries were under communist rule. Albo there's a bit of LGBT case too.

i was actually wondering if the colors blue and yellow also has a meaning here. i mean i love the song , when i was a kid back then in the ealry 90´s the sound got me, but i had no idea what the message was, but now it has a totally different meaning. but no need to hesitate. it is a message and you don´t have to be afraid to show this video here.

The context of the song is in relation to the fall of the soviet union. That's all it is. Interpret songs in time and place of their release. This has nothing to do with welcoming an unlawful invasion.

You have to remember this is 30 years old. Also it’s nothing to do with any kind of invasion, it’s about seeking freedom. In reacting to this you have to set aside what’s happening now in Ukraine. It feels like the video really threw you off course.

@SephPlays

Жыл бұрын

I think if i just listened to the music and not watched the video it would have been a very very good song. But yeah you are totally right. I think the video really did ruin it for me unfortunately :(

Hi. I just stumbled across your video. You definitely have the concept a little backwards. Yes, It is a cover of a Village People song. Before factoring in the video elements, really listen to the lyrics. Written by the Village People, it's basically about a gay couple leaving their lives in the east (of the USA) and moving to San Francisco so they can live free, out, and equal. Keep that in mind when you factor in the video elements. Somewhere online there is a video of Neil talking about filming in Russia (not all of the video was filmed in Russia). They didn't tell anyone they were going to film there- they did it while in Moscow helping support the launch of MTV Russia. They totally did it gurellia style and didn't have many crew or production dept. people there with them. And yes, it sort of does call attention to LGBTQ+ etc. still being somewhat oppressed there. ALSO, think about how that same group of people are being oppressed in the USA currently. It's very relevant today with the more conservative members of Congress pushing to keep Trans kids from playing on (school) sports teams with the sex/gender/etc. that they currently identify as.....don't even get me going about the whole trans kids and bathrooms issues. Lastly, they do have a little activism in their work and lives. Have you seen the current tour? They have a video curtain that covers the entire width of the stage from SL TO SR and the pre show video on it (for the entire preshow) is the Ukrainian flag, spanning across the entire stage. Then in West End Girls, Neil changes the lyrics from, "From Lake Geneva to the Finland station" to "From Mariupol to Kiev station." You are also correct about what was going on back then. The Soviet Union had fallen just a year or two prior to the song's release and yes, the West rushed in to get as much of the business in Russia as they could. So they had a "Go West" moment as well. I'm not sure how long a comment can be, but I have a lot of PSB knowledge and can direct you to interviews and articles, etc. to see how extraordinary they are. I just got their 2023 edition of their book "Annually" and there is a section about Russia then and now. I haven't read that far yet. OK. thanks for the reaction video. Please react to more of their songs. Maybe do "It's a Sin" next. It's basically about Neil's experience at a Catholic boarding school.......PLUS their new EP "Lost" (free with the book purchase) there is a song entitled "The Lost Room" that also describes his reality at boarding school. So much more I could say about them- check out Neil's political contributions......Message me if anything sounds out of sorts,. Thanks again! JV. Below is a link to a pic from their Minneapolis show showing the Ukraine flag. drive.google.com/file/d/1uV_yyiIhVQ-P0ulUsj-XLNVM1n-FP8hF/view?usp=share_link

Context is always important in Art, (music) and so is understanding that context. Several good comments r/t this songs historical timing and secondary meanings etc. Please watch/listen to Scorpions "Winds of change" for additional context. The fall of the USSR (and the Berlin wall etc) was a powerful moment and [like the "war to end all wars"...] it was a time of hope for peace and brotherhood etc Not that the "West" was perfect, but was far better than totalitarianism etc. Out "west" was, in the US, where the 'new way of thinking' about gay rights and social reform was maturing ...much of which has morphed into the Self-loathing and unhappiness with the "system", again, that system and the current outcry against it cannot [could not] exist under the Soviets..... thus, the hope expressed in the song doesn't resonate with younger generations today. Oh, another excellent song in its own right, and NOW ...again, unfortunately has become timely (It predated the fall but sums up the fears in the hearts of many before the fall), is the song by Sting "Russians"...... for some timing I translated it into Russian in my Russian 101 class in 1985 as a freshman.

Would make great opening music for a movie version of Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising.

Song makes Russia looks good

Fans of the band really seem to like this song but this never has been a fave of mind, like someone else mentioned it sounded too much like SAW produced song..

❤

You should react to the PSB albums, Starting with PLEASE, then ACTUALLY.... My favorite PSB song is Suburbia but I love Opportunities which I believe you reacted to.

@SephPlays

Жыл бұрын

Its very tempting to go through these in order to be honest!

Cold war. It's a great song. I'm sure a new song will come from this era.

The song shameless is much better and should have been the closer of Very.

The video is about leaving communism to go to the west, and enjoying the freedoms that capitalism brings.

Sounds like a stock aitkin and waterman production. Loads of stuff sounded like this in the mid 80s. Kyle did a lot of similar sounding background tunes

I actually don't like this song, in terms of lyrics mostly. It reminds me very simplistic texts of the Erasure. And with catchy music it also feels just like them too. So yeah, not terrible but they have way better.

@SephPlays

Жыл бұрын

Omg yeah! I actually perfer most of the other songs ive reacted to here on the channel to be fair!

It's about Calafornia was the safest place for the lgbt community. So to went west. Either way, love the Pet Shop Boys. Check out more Erasure x