so hard

Classic Pet Shop Boys: angelic vocals from Neil Tennant, and strong but not too strong hints of depravity in the lyrics:

I’m always hoping you’ll be faithful

But you’re not, I suppose

We’ve both given up smoking ’cause it’s fatal

So whose matches are those?

“Fatal” is very fine: it gives hints of drug overdoses and AIDS, of the wages of sin. A modern song would most likely eschew even the hint, and go into sordid, tedious detail. I also like the “I suppose” – a little overly polite, as if in discomfort.

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