[MUSIC] Pet Shop Boys, "It's Alright"

[rfmcdonald]

Continuing the topic of the previous post, the Pet Shop Boys' 1989 single "It's Alright" has something to do with the future and realistic hopes for said.

"Bif Naked - Spaceman" (Watch on YouTube)

"It's Alright" is the 13th single from Pet Shop Boys and was released in the UK by Parlophone Records on 1 June 1989. The lyrics list a wide variety of serious political issues in the headlines at the time ("Dictation enforced in Afghanistan, revolution in South Africa making a stand… "), and then offers the positive message of the title – that on its "timeless wavelength" "music is our life's foundation", it "shall last" and ultimately "succeed all the nations to come". On the album (Introspective) version, the song concludes with a touch of doubt as Neil Tennant repeats (apparently over the telephone): "I hope it's gonna be alright… "

The song was originally written and performed by Sterling Void and came to the attention of Pet Shop Boys on a house compilation. In fact, Sterling Void remixed the track on the second 12", entitled the "DJ International Mixes". Void's original version has only two verses (the first and third in the PSB version). The second verse of the Pet Shop Boys version, which expands the song's concerns beyond the purely political into environmental issues (specifically desertification), was written by Neil Tennant.

The single was originally released on the Introspective album, where it clocked in at over nine minutes. The song reached number 4 in the UK.