Tuesday, August 30, 2011

49. Electronic, "Disappointed" (1992)

(listen)

This being one of those songs that may be found in multiple versions and mixes, it's probably necessary for me to say that I think I prefer the "Electronic Mix" (aka "Original Mix") as opposed to the "Single Mix"—though certainly either is superior to any others I know. But the former uses its extra 1:20 or so to get particularly good and lush. The song itself is virtually restricted to motifs and gestures, nothing concrete about it at all, but the mood does carry a good load of its own particularities, and the thing is just so beautiful when it swells up big. It's another Electronic song all draped in Pet Shop Boys finery, and I don't think it's too much of a stretch to call it their best running away. Keyboard washes tall as skyscrapers, chukka-chukka guitar that rides it up and down, Bee Gees-like sighing "ahhhs," a focused self-determination as it fully engages, and the bonbon operatics as it cascades into the chorus. "Disappointed, once more / Disillusioned, encore." I'm not, of course, "disappointed" myself, at least not with this lovely confection (of course I have been disappointed in love, why else rank something like this so high?). All that lovely candy-coated Gilbert O'Sullivan crap, great big wads of sweet self-pity and the colossal heaving sigh that accompanies the main declaration. It's basically "Alone Again (Naturally)" updated for a world that now includes a vaster array of sonic textures and machines that make beats. Compare and contrast: "I promise myself to treat myself / And visit a nearby tower / And climbing to the top / Throw myself off" vs. "From the sound of your voice, the promise you make / You're somebody I can believe in / Someone who won't leave me feeling..." Well, you can guess the rest. And that's about it. Except: over all too soon.

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