Released: May 12, 2001
Songwriter: Chris Lowe Neil Tennant
Producer: Craig Armstrong Pet Shop Boys
[Verse 1]
An inspirational tirade against me
How to explain my life?
Girls to the left of me
Boys to the right of me
Neither husband nor wife
Though the days are filled with pain
There is no one who'll explain
Why I'm coming under friendly fire
Shot in the fatal cause of rock 'n' roll
But there's no one, really no one, to say
[Verse 2]
Why I endure under force majeure
Slander without shame or tact
I who studied make-up, mime and Buddha
Who taught two generations to react
About me the critics lied
I ignored them and survived
In spite of coming under friendly fire
Shot in the fatal cause of rock 'n' roll
But there's nothing, really nothing, to deny
[Bridge]
When I look back, my eyes are filled with tears
Danger to mascara, applause to my peers
[Verse 3]
When fame sustained me and arenas acclaimed me
I floated through life on a cloud
Of love and insanity and pagan profanity
Before a worshipping crowd
Now my status is ill-defined
As an icon I'm inclined
To be coming under friendly fire
Shot in the fatal cause of rock 'n' roll
But whatever dull or clever points they've scored
I have never, oh no never, been ignored
An inspirational tirade against me
How to explain my life?
Girls to the left of me
Boys to the right of me
Neither husband nor wife
Though the days are filled with pain
There is no one who'll explain
Why I'm coming under friendly fire
Shot in the fatal cause of rock 'n' roll
But there's no one, really no one, to say
[Verse 2]
Why I endure under force majeure
Slander without shame or tact
I who studied make-up, mime and Buddha
Who taught two generations to react
About me the critics lied
I ignored them and survived
In spite of coming under friendly fire
Shot in the fatal cause of rock 'n' roll
But there's nothing, really nothing, to deny
[Bridge]
When I look back, my eyes are filled with tears
Danger to mascara, applause to my peers
[Verse 3]
When fame sustained me and arenas acclaimed me
I floated through life on a cloud
Of love and insanity and pagan profanity
Before a worshipping crowd
Now my status is ill-defined
As an icon I'm inclined
To be coming under friendly fire
Shot in the fatal cause of rock 'n' roll
But whatever dull or clever points they've scored
I have never, oh no never, been ignored
more tracks from the album
Nightlife: Further Listening 1996 – 2000
- In Denial
- Closer to Heaven
- It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas (Fan Club Mix)
- Nightlife
- Positive Role Model
- For All of Us (Demo)
- Casting a Shadow
- Paris City Boy (Full French)
- Believe / Song for Guy
- Vampires (Demo)
- For All of Us
- Somebody Else’s Business (Extended Mix)
- I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any More (The PSB Extension)
- Call Me Old-Fashioned (Demo)
- Playing in the Streets
- Tall Thin Man
- Radiophonic
- You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk
- New York City Boy
- Boy Strange
- Somebody Else’s Business
- Friendly Fire
- The Ghost of Myself
- Footsteps
- Sail Away
- Silver Age
- Screaming
- For Your Own Good
- The Only One
- Happiness is an Option
- Lies
- I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Anymore
- Vampires
- Radiophonic (Demo)
From the albums
Pet Shop Boys popular songs
- West End Girls
- It’s a Sin
- Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)
- Go West
- Always On My Mind
- Being Boring
- Suburbia
- What Have I Done to Deserve This?
- Domino Dancing
- The Pop Kids
- Left to My Own Devices
- Rent
- New York City Boy
- Love etc.
- Love is a Bourgeois Construct
- Burning the heather
- Dreamland
- Closer to Heaven 3
- Footsteps
- Closer To Heaven / Left To My Own Devices
- Je T’aime Moi Non Plus
- Yesterday, When I Was Mad (Coconut 1 12" Mix) [Disco 2 Version]
- In His Imagination
- Sail Away