"Being Boring" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released as the second single from their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990). The song reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart, marking the duo's first single to miss the top 10 since "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" in 1986. Its music video was directed by fashion photographer Bruce Weber.
Background, lyrics and music
The song is concerned with the idea of growing up and how people's perceptions and values change as they grow older. The title apparently materialised after someone in Japan accused the duo of being boring. The title is also derived from a Zelda Fitzgerald quotation, "she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring". In an interview in 1993, Neil Tennant described "Being Boring" as "one of the best songs that we've written", and said that "For me it is a personal song because it's about a friend of mine who died of AIDS, and so it's about our lives when we were teenagers and how we moved to London, and I suppose me becoming successful and him becoming ill."
The track was originally demoed in a studio in West Glasgow, where the music for "My October Symphony", "The End of the World" and the unreleased "Love and War" were also written. The lyrics for the first two verses – the first one about the parties (referencing the Fitzgerald quote on an invitation card) and the second about Tennant's life in Newcastle in the '70s – had materialised by that point, while the third verse was to be written closer to recording the song. The final verse would be about "travelling the world in the 80s as the Pet Shop Boys" and wishing his (Tennant's) friend – who died of AIDS – was still there.
Later, the demo was presented to producer Harold Faltermeyer at Red Deer Studios, Munich, whose expertise in analog synthesizers would come to the forefront in the song's production. The basis of the song was laid with Roland TR-808 and Roland TR-909 drum machines, plus a Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer. Synthesizers used included a Roland Jupiter-8 (which makes up the layered textures in the introduction and the melody line throughout), an Oberheim OB-8 (which was blended with the Jupiter-8 for the main melody) and a Synclavier (for the harp glissandos).
Further work was done at Sarm West Studios in London with Julian Mendelsohn; the "wakka-wakka" guitar line by J.J. Belle (influenced by Isaac Hayes's Theme from Shaft (1971)) was recorded there, among a few other parts.
Live
In spite of the track's moderate commercial success, "Being Boring" has been played regularly at concerts. It was not initially performed on the tour of 1991, Performance; leading to many fans, including Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses, complaining about its omission. As a result, it was added as an encore late in the tour with the band commenting that it "invariably got the best reception of the night." It has since become a mainstay of their live performances.
Critical reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic called the song "wistful". A reviewer from Music & Media commented, "Up-tempo, smooth and pushy pop from the Boys. The nervous groove is made out of a persistent rhythm guitar and a floating synth. A natural hit, produced by Pet Shop Boys and Harold Faltermeyer." Selina Webb from Music Week wrote, "Hardly boring, but certainly one of their most gently-handled tracks. The Scandal-style productions puts the emphasis on the charming lyrics which deliver the Tennant muse in oblique phrases, not unlike those found in a New Order song. As usual its appeal is enhanced with each airing and, equally, it will enjoy a sustained chart performance."
Roger Morton from NME described "Being Boring" as "a scrapbook flick through his journey from expectant Northern youth in the '70s to a doubting '90s adulthood, burdened by unease and a sense of loss (of close friends)." In their single review, an reviewer from the magazine wrote, "The only heart-thumping moment on "Being Boring" is when some synthetic harp sound appears from nowhere to add a bit of colour to the otherwise grey monotony of the song." Miranda Sawyer from Smash Hits said, "Title of the Fortnight without a doubt, but although "Being Boring" is fairly fabulous in an understated way, with Neil being all wistful over nice violins and a discreet tickety beat, it just doesn't have that swooshy drama or singalong chorus that great Pet Shop Boys singles are made of. An "album track" I believe it's called."