"Cricket Wife" initial commentary

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Spittingcat
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#31 Post by Spittingcat »

Patrick Bateman wrote: Fri 07 May 2021, 8:14 pm I agree. The vocals and music seem overly detached.
Less so on returning to it tonight.

The ‘In May’ similarities even stronger… with perhaps added Michael Nyman.

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Electronic Dave
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#32 Post by Electronic Dave »

The horn/brass section sounds similar to 'All Over The World' - you can tell the vocal was recorded separately and it seems a bit compressed in quality...obviously with no access to a proper recording studio

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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#33 Post by leesmapman »

This is such a dark song. Both musically and the subject matter. And Neil sounds so fragile on this track. It is really something to take in...
I also hear a lower voice singing with Neil which doesn't sound like Neil, in the "I smell a rat" section.

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Deschanel
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#34 Post by Deschanel »

Gabby wrote: Fri 07 May 2021, 12:01 am Wayne's interpretation, if correct, makes this one of most devastatingly sad songs the Boys have ever done, in this listeners opinion.

Not a bad thing I might add, but I nearly cried just reading his interpretation. I haven't even heard it yet.
Listened to it about 5 times tonight, and Wayne's interpretation is impossible for me to deny.
It is devastatingly sad. But I'm sure I'll be listening to this little piece of art all weekend.
A very unexpected emotional tenor.

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rashomon
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#35 Post by rashomon »

First listen thoughts ...

Four to the floor banger this aint! :lol:

I love the music throughout - there is a brooding darkness here, lots of swells and dynamics and the distinct sections come together really well. Neils' audio track is like others have pointed out a bit out of the mix with the rest of the music but perhaps that in itself adds to the this track's character. I'm not keen on the lyrics so much however - the ''I want my stuff' line especially jars for me.

Definitely gonna need to give this one a few spins ...
you could say conventional ... and I could claim intentional

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tottenhammattspurs
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#36 Post by tottenhammattspurs »

Spittingcat wrote: Fri 07 May 2021, 7:57 pm
tottenhammattspurs wrote: Fri 07 May 2021, 2:23 pm It’s sounds like something Divine Comedy would do.

Have you heard “In May”? It’s a musical “play”, and absolutely in the same vein as this track. Very moving. Highly recommended.

As for this track… I like the music, and the vocals, but they don’t quite sit together for me yet. The vocals are far too prominent and “on top of” the music for me… too loud and push the music into “background” status, when it would be more interesting (to me) for it to be the focus.

In May is incredible. Very hard to listen to but that’s the idea.
is is and isnt isnt

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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#37 Post by jasonjohn »

Bit disappointed it’s not on YouTube yet

While there’s lots of Annually 21s on eBay at dogecoin prices

Disco.
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#38 Post by Disco. »

Scavengers 😡

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Drico One
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#39 Post by Drico One »

There is always a kernel of hope with Pet Shop Boys. I come back to them time and time again because, even in moments of disillusionment, disaffection, or despair, there remains the possibility of escape. And so it is here. The very first verse seems to describe scenes by a death bed. Is this the moment of death itself? "Present tense is future past...Nothing moves or ever will".

"I'm going home..." is striking in that context. Neil, to me, paints a moving, vivid, and emotive picture of one floating from this life to another. It's very Catholic, the sense of passing through to another realm where a form of redemption can be found. And this is the theme of Pet Shop Boys, themselves: escaping to somewhere better. There is a foreboding in Chris's orchestration, and a feeling that this is a profound journey we are observing. Perhaps it is a journey of the mind, or from this life to something else, even if that something else is simply an escape...to nothingness. Yet, there is also a lightness of touch amid the bombast, a glimpse of freedom as the traveler frolics, liberated from "bones and blood and anxious anger."

There is always that possibility of movement, from one place to another with Neil and Chris. The "here and now" is rarely satisfying, so it's that possibility that provides the hope. From Two Divided By Zero to Will-o-the-Wisp, it runs through their entire oeuvre like a track. There is always a train to take to another place and time.

I find Cricket Wife an affecting piece. Despite the heavy oppressiveness on view, there is an underlying gaiety and merriment to be found amid the profundity and leaden gloom.

Something moves and always will.

Drico.
The pale kid that hides in the attic behind his PC...

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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#40 Post by rashomon »

I've had some further reflection on this piece:

Time has stopped
The air is still
Nothing moves or ever will
Present tense is future past….


This is a word perfect description of how it felt to me sitting in my garden in London during the first lockdown. Nothing moving - no wind, no planes, no birds singing ... and the uncertainty of the future with the pandemic taking hold.
you could say conventional ... and I could claim intentional

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Spittingcat
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#41 Post by Spittingcat »

Loving this now. Give it a few listens… everything gels.

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King1968
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#42 Post by King1968 »

The song gets better and better after every listen it's very moving

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Old Soak
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#43 Post by Old Soak »

King1968 wrote: Sat 08 May 2021, 7:37 pm The song gets better and better after every listen it's very moving
I concur. Once the initial shock of the track stylistically is past it has more layers than an onion and is deeply affecting. We are so lucky, the diversity of their back catalogue is incredible.
And at the end/ Your funny Uncle staring / At all your friends / With military bearing

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lucienchardon
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#44 Post by lucienchardon »

Love it! Sad but very beautiful. Hope this is part of their new theatre work.

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Sithblade
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Re: "Cricket Wife" initial commentary

#45 Post by Sithblade »

Drico One wrote:There is always a kernel of hope with Pet Shop Boys. I come back to them time and time again because, even in moments of disillusionment, disaffection, or despair, there remains the possibility of escape. And so it is here. The very first verse seems to describe scenes by a death bed. Is this the moment of death itself? "Present tense is future past...Nothing moves or ever will".

"I'm going home..." is striking in that context. Neil, to me, paints a moving, vivid, and emotive picture of one floating from this life to another. It's very Catholic, the sense of passing through to another realm where a form of redemption can be found. And this is the theme of Pet Shop Boys, themselves: escaping to somewhere better. There is a foreboding in Chris's orchestration, and a feeling that this is a profound journey we are observing. Perhaps it is a journey of the mind, or from this life to something else, even if that something else is simply an escape...to nothingness. Yet, there is also a lightness of touch amid the bombast, a glimpse of freedom as the traveler frolics, liberated from "bones and blood and anxious anger."

There is always that possibility of movement, from one place to another with Neil and Chris. The "here and now" is rarely satisfying, so it's that possibility that provides the hope. From Two Divided By Zero to Will-o-the-Wisp, it runs through their entire oeuvre like a track. There is always a train to take to another place and time.

I find Cricket Wife an affecting piece. Despite the heavy oppressiveness on view, there is an underlying gaiety and merriment to be found amid the profundity and leaden gloom.

Something moves and always will.

Drico.
Well said Drico Image

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