Disco de Pet Shop Boys: “Can You Forgive Her [US]”

Fun club mixes of the Pet Shop Boys' CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?, another story of forbidden love and social stigma. But with a disco beat! Rollo makes great use of the "dance to disco" vocal sample in the original in two groovy (though essentially identical) mixes. MK keeps things rolling with a smooth and cool synth line before leading into his (at the time) unique cut-up-and-rearranged sampling. The dub focuses on more on the word "pain" (and, oddly, "bicycle") but has some lovely organ chords to keep the house kicking. Johnny Marr, better known as a guitarist, does an okay job at mixing, but his version of "I Want to Wake Up" is not quite ready for the clubs, I'm afraid...

When I first heard the title of the song 'Can You Forgive Her' by the Pet Shop Boys, my mind immediately went to the novel penned by Anthony Trollope of the same name. I would not be surprising for the Pet Shop Boys to incorporate such a theme or image into their songs - one of the things the PSB have been noted for was the intelligence in their lyrics. While there is no direct linkages to the novel, there are perhaps, in a gender-switching sort of way, parallels to the difficult situations of Trollope's characters, especially the 'her' of the title.

This was the first single release from the 'Very' album, one that returned to a much more disco-oriented kind of sound and beat. Computer technology for video and music instruments increased dramatically through the 80s, and that kind of technological innovation can be seen in this production.

The CD has five tracks of remixes of the title song, 'Can You Forgive Her', plus a remix of the track 'I Want To Wake Up' from the Actually album of 1987. This is an interesting remake of the song, remixed by PSB-veteran collaborator Shep Pettibone, unavailable in other formats.

This is pure Pet Shop Boys from the time that some were already reporting them as a thing of the past; the PSB are still around, and this song is now considered one of their classic hits.

It's one thing when you know an album and a first single are coming out. It's another when you find it by accident and end up loving it. I don't know the difference between dub and remix, but I liked both here. Too often, CD singles only have one good version of the track. Here, all the versions were good. I liked "I want to wake up" on their "Actually" disc, I liked it here too more so because the Boys have lasted despite naysayers, disco-haters, and homophobes. The fact that they have album cuts to remix shows that they have staying power. Thumbs up to this disc. It'll make you reminisce on the fun and positivity of the 1990s.