Love Is A Bourgeois Construct

Album: Electric (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This intellectual break-up song showcases Pet Shop Boys' knack of bringing politics into their music. The lyric was inspired by David Lodge's 1988 novel Nice Work, about the relationship between a feminist university teacher and the manager of an engineering firm. He falls in love with the lecturer and she tells him that love is "a bourgeois fallacy." Vocalist Neil Tennant told The Sun: "Putting such a literary phrase into a title for a pop song appealed to me out of bloody-mindedness really."
  • The song quotes the melody line from "Chasing Sheep Is Best Left to Shepherds," which is part of Michael Nyman's score for the 1982 film The Draughtsman's Contract. "Chasing Sheep…" itself takes its material from the Prelude to Act III, Scene 2 of English composer Henry Purcell's 1691 opera King Arthur and Purcell, not Nyman, earned the co-writing credit for the song.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.

Band Names

Band NamesFact or Fiction

Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.