"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" is a song by English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

duo

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

from their twelfth studio album, ''

Electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

'' (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 Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds is a piece of minimalist music from the soundtrack for ''The Draughtsman's Contract'', written by Michael Nyman. In the forty years since its release it has been much quoted and sampled and performed by vari ...

" (1982), a minimalist piece by

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

, which in turn is based on the Prelude to Act III, Scene 2 of the opera ''

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

'' (1691) by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' named "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" the fourth best track of the year, and ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' listed the song at number 18 on its "25 Best Singles of 2013" list.

Background and recording

"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" was written in 2012 in Berlin after the completion of the Pet Shop Boys' album ''

Elysium Elysium (), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields (, ''Ēlýsion pedíon''), Elysian Plains or Elysian Realm, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philosophical sects and cult ...

'' earlier that year.

Chris Lowe Christopher Sean Lowe (born 4 October 1959) is an English musician, singer and songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Neil Tennant in 1981. Biography Christopher Sean Lowe was born and raised in Bla ...

had the idea to write music inspired by "Chasing Sheep Is Best Left to Shepherds".

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for '' Smash Hits'', and assist ...

came up with the title based on a passage from the novel ''

Nice Work ''Nice Work'' is a 1988 novel by British author David Lodge (author), David Lodge. It is the final volume of Lodge's "Campus Trilogy", after ''Changing Places'' (1975) and ''Small World: An Academic Romance'' (1984). ''Nice Work'' won the Sund ...

'' by David Lodge, about a plant manager who falls in love with a feminist university lecturer. For the song, Tennant imagined a middle-class man who was living a comfortable life, until his partner left him and his

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

lifestyle became meaningless. The lyrics make reference to the writings of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

, from the narrator's university days, and to Labour Party politician

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and political activist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabine ...

, who was known for his tea-drinking habit. The songs on ''Electric'' were recorded and sequenced in alphabetical order; the demo was originally called ''Bourgeois'', so it followed ''Bolshy''. When the song was recorded for the album, producer

Stuart Price Stuart David Price (born 9 September 1977) is an English electronic musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer. His acts include his own band Zoot Woman (with Adam Blake (musician), Adam Blake and Johnny Blake (musician), Johnny Blake), L ...

used the sheet music from Purcell's work.

Release

The single was released digitally on 2 September 2013 in two bundles, followed by a

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

on 30 September. Both the physical and digital formats include remixes by

Little Boots Victoria Christina Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), known professionally as Little Boots, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ. She was previously a member of the band Dead Disco. Since performing as a solo artist, she has released four albums: ''H ...

The Penelopes The Penelopes (or ) are a French indie pop/ electronic band from Paris, consisting of Axel Basquiat and Vincent T. They have recently relocated to London. Though the band is a duo, they have additional musicians on bass, guitar and drums for liv ...

and

Dave Audé Dave Audé () is an American DJ, producer and remixer. He operates his own label Audacious Records, and is known for having more number ones than any other producer on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart. He has done production for artists ...

, as well as two previously unreleased B-sides, "Entschuldigung!" and "Get It Online". The

twelve-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

was released on 9 December 2013.

Live performances

"Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" was performed on select dates of the

Electric Tour The Electric Tour was synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys' 2013–15 world tour in support of their two albums ''Elysium'' and ''Electric''. The first leg started on 22 March and ended in October in Mexico. The second leg of the tour was announced in J ...

, with scenes of the

Goldhawk Road Goldhawk Road is a road in west London, England, which starts at Shepherd's Bush and travels west. There are numerous shops, restaurants and businesses lining the road, which forms the southern boundary of Shepherd's Bush Green. It is designate ...

in London, mentioned in the lyrics, as a backdrop. The song was played regularly during the

Super Tour The Super Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys in support of their thirteenth studio album ''Super'' (2016). It began with a four-night residency entitled ''Inner Sanctum'' at the Royal Opera House in London i ...

, and it is included on the live album '' Inner Sanctum'', which was recorded during the Pet Shop Boys' residency at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in July 2018.

Track listings

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Electric'' and "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct". 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 Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cla ...

, is also listed. Pet Shop Boys * Neil Tennant * Chris Lowe Additional vocals * Stuart Price * Andy Crookston * Pete Gleadall * Luke Halls

Charts

External links

Lyrics: Love is a bourgeois construct

References

{{authority control 2013 singles 2013 songs Hi-NRG songs Pet Shop Boys songs Songs written by Neil Tennant Songs written by Chris Lowe Song recordings produced by Stuart Price Popular songs based on classical music Arrangements of compositions by Henry Purcell