Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
{{Use British English|date=December 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| cover = Pet Shop Boys - Love Is a Bourgeois Construct.png
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = Pet Shop Boys
| album = Electric
| B-side = {{hlist|"Entschuldigung!"|"Get It Online"}}
| released = 2 September 2013
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Hi-NRG{{cite news|title= Album review: Pet Shop Boys, Electric |url= http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/music/album-review-pet-shop-boys-electric-1-3000738 |newspaper= The Scotsman |date= 14 July 2013 |accessdate= 31 March 2015}}{{cite web|url= https://www.spin.com/2013/12/spin-20-best-pop-albums-2013/131204-pet-shop-boys-electric/ |first= Barry |last= Walters |title= SPIN's 20 Best Pop Albums of 2013: 16 – Pet Shop Boys, Electric (x2) |work= Spin |accessdate= 31 March 2015}}
| length = 6:41
| label = x2
| writer =
| producer = Stuart Price
| prev_title = Vocal
| prev_year = 2013
| next_title = Thursday
| next_year = 2013
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|s7w0eqUBp3c|"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" (audio)}}}}
}}
"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their twelfth studio album, Electric (2013). It was released on 2 September 2013 as the album's third single. The song is based on the instrumental "Chasing Sheep Is Best Left to Shepherds" (1982), a minimalist piece by Michael Nyman,{{cite web |url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/news/2013-07-22/love-is-a-bourgeois-construct-single |title='Love is a bourgeois construct' single |website=PetShopBoys.co.uk |date=22 July 2013 |accessdate=5 November 2020}} which in turn is based on the Prelude to Act III, Scene 2 of the opera King Arthur (1691) by Henry Purcell.{{Cite web |url=https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/11492/Chasing-Sheep-is-Best-Left-to-Shepherds-The-Draughtsmans-Contract--Michael-Nyman/|title=Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds (The Draughtsman's Contract) (1982)|website=Wise Music Classical|access-date=14 December 2024}}
The Guardian named "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" the fourth best track of the year,{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/dec/23/best-tracks-of-2013-top-20 |title=The best tracks of 2013: our top 20 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=23 December 2013 |accessdate=31 December 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402014245/http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/dec/23/best-tracks-of-2013-top-20 |archivedate=2 April 2014}} and Slant Magazine listed the song at number 18 on its "25 Best Singles of 2013" list.{{cite web |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/the-25-best-singles-of-2013/2/ |title=The 25 Best Singles of 2013 |last=Cinquemani |first=Sal |website=Slant Magazine |date=11 December 2013 |accessdate=6 November 2020}}
Background and recording
"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" was written in 2012{{cite book |last=Tennant|first=Neil|date=2018|title=One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem: 1979–2016|location=London|publisher=Faber & Faber|page=118|isbn=9780571348916}} in Berlin after the completion of the Pet Shop Boys' album Elysium earlier that year.{{cite AV media |people=Pet Shop Boys and Stuart Price |date=3 January 2024 |title=Album Track by Track (Band and Producer Commentary)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jSGxOePy8A|type=audio commentary|publisher=x2}} Chris Lowe had the idea to write music inspired by "Chasing Sheep Is Best Left to Shepherds".{{cite web |url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/history/2013|title=History: September 2013|website=petshopboys.co.uk|access-date=14 December 2024}} Neil Tennant came up with the title based on a passage from the novel Nice Work by David Lodge, about a plant manager who falls in love with a feminist university lecturer.
{{blockquote|"I've been in love with you for weeks."
"There's no such thing," she says. "It's a rhetorical device. It's a bourgeois fallacy."
"Haven't you ever been in love, then?"
"When I was younger," she says, "I allowed myself to be constructed by the discourse of romantic love for a while, yes."{{cite book |last=Lodge|first=David|year=1990|title=Nice Work|location=New York|publisher=Penguin Books|at=Part 5, chapter 2, page 210|isbn=0140133968}}}}
For the song, Tennant imagined a middle-class man who was living a comfortable life, until his partner left him and his bourgeois lifestyle became meaningless. The lyrics make reference to the writings of Karl Marx, from the narrator's university days, and to Labour Party politician Tony Benn, who was known for his tea-drinking habit.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200121-why-pet-shop-boys-are-still-the-cleverest-men-in-pop |title=Why Pet Shop Boys are still the cleverest men in pop|last=Levine|first=Nick|date=21 January 2020|website=BBC|access-date=18 December 2024}}{{cite news |last=Houston|first=Muiris|date=7 April 2014 |title=Tony Benn, Earl Grey and William Gladstone can't all be wrong, can they?|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/tony-benn-earl-grey-and-william-gladstone-can-t-all-be-wrong-can-they-1.1753118|work=The Irish Times|location=Dublin|access-date=3 November 2024}}
The songs on Electric were recorded and sequenced in alphabetical order; the demo was originally called Bourgeois, so it followed Bolshy.{{Cite web |url=https://www.popjustice.com/articles/a-lengthy-neil-tennant-interview/#ixzz2YT7BShf7|title=A lengthy Neil Tennant interview|last=Robinson|first=Peter|date=25 June 2013|website=Popjustice|access-date=7 December 2024}} When the song was recorded for the album, producer Stuart Price used the sheet music from Purcell's work.{{cite magazine |last=Daw|first=Robbie|date=21 June 2013|title=Pet Shop Boys Discuss 'Electric', Their Euphoric Summer Album: Idolator Interview|magazine=Idolator|quote=It's a sample of Purcell. It's not a sample at all, actually. It's being re-played by Stuart from the original sheet music.}}
Release
The single was released digitally on 2 September 2013 in two bundles, followed by a CD single on 30 September. Both the physical and digital formats include remixes by Little Boots, The Penelopes and Dave Audé, as well as two previously unreleased B-sides, "Entschuldigung!" and "Get It Online".{{cite web |url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/news/2013-08-23/love-is-a-bourgeois-construct-release-information |title=Love is a Bourgeois Construct release information |website=PetShopBoys.co.uk |date=23 August 2013 |accessdate=5 November 2020}} The twelve-inch single was released on 9 December 2013.{{cite web |url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/news/2013-11-11/vinyl |title=Vinyl |website=PetShopBoys.co.uk |date=11 November 2013 |accessdate=5 November 2020}}
Live performances
"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" was performed on select dates of the Electric Tour,{{cite web |url=https://www.setlist.fm/stats/pet-shop-boys-7bd6ae70.html?tour=bd6c9f2|title=Songs played by tour: Electric Tour|website=setlist.fm|access-date=14 December 2024}} with scenes of the Goldhawk Road in London, mentioned in the lyrics, as a backdrop.{{cite news |last=Needham|first=Alex|date=8 June 2014 |title=Pet Shop Boys review - tightrope walking between folk and art |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/australia-culture-blog/2014/jun/09/pet-shop-boys-review-tightrope-walking-between-pop-and-art|work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=15 December 2024}} The song was played regularly during the Super Tour,{{cite web |url=https://www.setlist.fm/stats/pet-shop-boys-7bd6ae70.html?tour=3d6c9cb|title=Songs played by tour: Super Tour|website=setlist.fm|access-date=14 December 2024}} and it is included on the live album Inner Sanctum, which was recorded during the Pet Shop Boys' residency at the Royal Opera House in July 2018.{{Cite web |url=https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/pet-shop-boys-inner-sanctum/|title=Pet Shop Boys / Inner Sanctum|last=Sinclair|first=Paul|date=30 January 2019|website=Super Deluxe Edition|access-date=17 December 2024}}
Track listings
{{Track listing
| headline = Digital bundle 1{{cite web |url=https://music.apple.com/gb/album/love-is-a-bourgeois-construct-ep/1721611129 |title=Love is a Bourgeois Construct – EP by Pet Shop Boys |website=Apple Music |location=United Kingdom |accessdate=18 December 2024}}
| title1 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note1 = Nighttime radio edit
| length1 = 4:10
| title2 = Entschuldigung!
| length2 = 5:03
| title3 = Get It Online
| length3 = 3:36
| title4 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note4 = The Penelopes remix radio edit
| length4 = 4:09
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Digital bundle 2{{cite web |url=https://music.apple.com/gb/album/love-is-a-bourgeois-construct-remixes-ep/1721612230 |title=Love Is a Bourgeois Construct (Remixes) by Pet Shop Boys |website=Apple Music |location=United Kingdom |accessdate=18 December 2024}}
| title1 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note1 = The Penelopes remix
| length1 = 7:00
| title2 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note2 = Claptone remix
| length2 = 7:00
| title3 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note3 = Little Boots Discothèque edit
| length3 = 6:50
| title4 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note4 = Dave Audé Big Dirty dub
| length4 = 6:16
| title5 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note5 = Claptone instrumental
| length5 = 6:57
}}
{{Track listing
| title1 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note1 = Nighttime radio edit
| length1 = 4:10
| title2 = Entschuldigung!
| length2 = 5:03
| title3 = Get It Online
| length3 = 3:36
| title4 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note4 = The Penelopes remix
| length4 = 7:00
| title5 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note5 = Claptone remix
| length5 = 7:00
| title6 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note6 = Little Boots Discothèque edit
| length6 = 6:50
| title7 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note7 = Dave Audé Big Dirty dub
| length7 = 6:16
| title8 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note8 = Claptone instrumental
| length8 = 6:57
| title9 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note9 = Little Boots Discothèque dub
| length9 = 6:50
}}
{{Track listing
| title1 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note1 = album version
| length1 = 6:42
| title2 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note2 = The Penelopes remix
| length2 = 7:00
| title3 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note3 = Claptone remix
| length3 = 7:00
| title4 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note4 = Little Boots Discothèque dub
| length4 = 6:51
| title5 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note5 = Dave Audé extended vocal remix
| length5 = 6:47
| title6 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note6 = Claptone instrumental
| length6 = 6:57
| title7 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note7 = Dave Audé Big Dirty dub instrumental
| length7 = 6:17
| title8 = Love Is a Bourgeois Construct
| note8 = The Penelopes dub
| length8 = 7:04
}}
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Electric{{cite AV media notes |title=Electric|type=liner notes|author=Pet Shop Boys|publisher=x2|year=2013|id=X20003CD1}} and "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct".{{cite AV media notes |title=Love is a bourgeois construct|type=liner notes|author=Pet Shop Boys|publisher=x2|year=2013|id=5060186920504}}
On the album, a songwriting credit for "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" is given to Henry Purcell in addition to Tennant and Lowe; whereas on the single, Michael Nyman is credited instead of Purcell, and his music publisher, Chester Music, is also listed.
Pet Shop Boys
- Neil Tennant
- Chris Lowe
Additional vocals
- Stuart Price
- Andy Crookston
- Pete Gleadall
- Luke Halls
Charts
External links
[https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/lyrics/love-is-a-bourgeois-construct Lyrics: Love is a bourgeois construct]
References
{{reflist}}
{{Pet Shop Boys singles}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Songs written by Neil Tennant
Category:Songs written by Chris Lowe
Category:Song recordings produced by Stuart Price