Neil Tennant revisits songs he’s written since the age of nine

2026-03-20

Download

Neil Tennant co-wrote a musical at Primary School and soon decided that “learning other people’s songs was hard work compared with making up your own”. He’s chosen some from the Pet Shop Boys’ 40-year catalogue, hits and obscurities, in ‘One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem’, just out in paperback, and added fascinating notes about their context and composition. This very funny and revealing conversation lands on the following … ... the first song he ever wrote … auditioning for Rocket Records in 1975 … does songwriting have rules?

... the first song he ever wrote

… auditioning for Rocket Records in 1975

… does songwriting have rules?

… how Chris Lowe tamed his inner “musical snob”

… rap, Brecht-Weill, Betjeman, Noel Coward, My Fair Lady and the art of “speak-singing”

… the decades of lyrics stored in our brains

… the Songwriting Bootcamp that produced What Have I Done To Deserve This?

… the essence of melancholy (and the chord that expresses it)

… “the sound of words is often more important than the sense”

… whether Dylan deserved the Nobel Prize for Literature

… West End Girls and whether to rap in English or American

… the writing of King's Cross, Cricket Wife, Odd Man Out and I Made My Excuses And Left