Was It Worth It? (Pet Shop Boys song)
"Was It Worth It?" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Pet Shop Boys | ||||
from the album Discography: The Complete Singles Collection | ||||
B-side | "Miserablism" | |||
Released | 9 December 1991[1] | |||
Genre | Hi-NRG[2] | |||
Length | 4:24 | |||
Label | Parlophone | |||
Songwriter(s) |
| |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Pet Shop Boys singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Was It Worth It?" on YouTube | ||||
"Was it Worth it?" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their first greatest hits album, Discography: The Complete Singles Collection (1991). It was released on 9 December 1991 as the album's second and final single, peaking at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's first single to not reach the top 20 since they signed to Parlophone in 1984 (the second being "Numb", 15 years later).[3] This was the main reason why the song was not included on their later hits compilation PopArt: The Hits, however it was featured on the DVD edition and Moby’s remix of the single’s b-side "Miserablism" was included on the three disc special edition.
Critical reception
Upon its release as a single, Dave Jennings of Melody Maker noted "Was It Worth It?" had "the chunkiest, most muscular music to appear on a PSB track in a long time" and added that Tennant's vocal is "so fey, even by his standards, that it threatens to evaporate at any moment". He noted the song is "genuinely, surprisingly uplifting" as Tennant sings about "the usual Pet Shop themes [of] passion, regret and compromise, [but] from an unusually positive angle", and concluded it would be "a large and welcome hit".[4] Barbara Ellen of NME felt the song was "not their best" and "sounds profoundly like a pastiche of every other song they've done before", but noted "its floor-scorching elegance, its deadpan distortion of The Love Song, and that daffy commitment they continue to have to everything sepia-tinted and forgotten". She also praised Tennant's vocals for "getting more accomplished with every record", adding that it's "nice to hear him singing about love and liberation in unveiled terms for once".[5] Andy Kastanas from The Charlotte Observer wrote, "The sacred cow of disco never died for these guys (as evidenced by this song) and there's plenty of violins and a "hi-NRG" beat to prove it."[2] Joe Brown from The Washington Post declared it as "a fierce disco anthem to rival "I Will Survive"."[6]
Track listings
UK 7-inch single R 6306
US 7" single S7-57696 The A-side of this single was mistakenly mastered with the non-vocal dub version. The B-side is a label mistake and is "Miserablism" (Electro mix) – 5:38
US 12-inch single VNR 56243
| US CD single E2-56244
UK CD single CDR 6306
|
Personnel
- Designed by Farrow/3a/Pet Shop Boys
- Artwork by (dolls) Toshima Tada
- Photography – Robert Shackleton
- Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe
Charts
Chart (1991–1992) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[7] | 153 |
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100 Singles)[8] | 38 |
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] | 3 |
Germany (Official German Charts)[10] | 19 |
Ireland (IRMA)[11] | 25 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[12] | 7 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] | 50 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[14] | 17 |
UK Singles (OCC)[3] | 24 |
UK Dance (Music Week)[15] | 56 |
References
- ^ "Was It Worth It?". petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
- ^ a b Kastanas, Andy (5 February 1992). "Sounds of Progress". p. 16. The Charlotte Observer.
- ^ a b "Pet Shop Boys: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ Jennings, Dave (7 December 1991). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 27.
- ^ Ellen, Barbara (14 December 1991). "Singles". New Musical Express. p. 16.
- ^ Brown, Joe (27 December 1991). "Annual Top 10 Lists Of Weekend Music Critics". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 15 July 2015". Retrieved 2 August 2015 – via Imgur.
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 3. 18 January 1992. p. 31. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
- ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 233. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Was It Worth It?" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Was It Worth It". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Was It Worth It?" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Was It Worth It?" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Was It Worth It?". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. No. 51. 21 December 1991. p. 26. ISSN 0265-1548 – via World Radio History.
- v
- t
- e
- Please
- Actually
- Introspective
- Behaviour
- Very
- Bilingual
- Nightlife
- Release
- Fundamental
- Yes
- Elysium
- Electric
- Super
- Hotspot
- Nonetheless
- Discography: The Complete Singles Collection
- Alternative
- Essential
- PopArt: The Hits
- Story: 25 Years of Hits
- Party
- Ultimate
- Format
- Smash: The Singles 1985–2020
- Concrete
- Pandemonium
- Inner Sanctum
- Discovery: Live in Rio 1994
- Christmas
- Agenda
- Lost
- "West End Girls"
- "One More Chance"
- "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)"
- "Love Comes Quickly"
- "Suburbia"
- "Paninaro"
- "It's a Sin"
- "What Have I Done to Deserve This?"
- "Rent"
- "Heart"
- "Always on My Mind"
- "Domino Dancing"
- "Left to My Own Devices"
- "It's Alright"
- "So Hard"
- "Being Boring"
- "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)" / "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?"
- "Jealousy"
- "DJ Culture"
- "Was It Worth It?"
- "Can You Forgive Her?"
- "Go West"
- "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing"
- "Liberation"
- "Absolutely Fabulous"
- "Yesterday, When I Was Mad"
- "Paninaro '95"
- "Before"
- "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)" / "To Step Aside"
- "Single-Bilingual"
- "A Red Letter Day"
- "Somewhere"
- "I Don't Know What You Want but I Can't Give It Any More"
- "New York City Boy"
- "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk"
- "Home and Dry"
- "I Get Along"
- "London"
- "Miracles"
- "Flamboyant"
- "I'm with Stupid"
- "Minimal"
- "Numb"
- "Integral"
- "Love Etc."
- "Did You See Me Coming?"
- "Beautiful People"
- "Love Life"
- "Together"
- "Winner"
- "Leaving"
- "Memory of the Future"
- "Axis"
- "Vocal"
- "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct"
- "Thursday"
- "The Pop Kids"
- "Say It to Me"
- "Dreamland"
- "King's Cross"
- "The Loving Kind"
- "The Night I Fell in Love"
- "I'm Not Scared"
- "In Private"
- "Nothing Has Been Proved"
- "So Sorry, I Said"
- "Don't Drop Bombs"
- "Losing My Mind"
- Cubism
- The Crying Game
- Closer to Heaven
- Battleship Potemkin
- The Most Incredible Thing
- It Couldn't Happen Here
- Closer to Heaven
- Pet Shop Boys: A Life in Pop
- Fundamental Tour
- Pandemonium Tour
- Electric Tour
- Super Tour
- Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live
- CyberWorld
- Discography
- Songs
- x2
- Reputation
- Results
- Electronic
- Back to Mine: Pet Shop Boys
- West End Girls