"It's a Sin" 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 second studio album, '' Actually'' (1987). Written by Chris Lowe and

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 ...

, the song was released on 15 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became the duo's second number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks atop the chart. Additionally, the single topped the charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, West Germany, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Zimbabwe, while reaching number nine on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It remains one of Pet Shop Boys' most popular songs with 40 million

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in the UK.

Background

"It's a Sin" was written in 1982 at Ray Roberts' studio in Camden, where Lowe and Tennant worked on songs in their early years. Their original demo was one of the songs Tennant brought to his meeting with New York

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Bobby Orlando. Pet Shop Boys made another demo with Orlando in 1984, but it was never released. The song's basic structure from the 1984 demo remained intact in the 1987 version, although the released production is far more dramatic.

Writing and inspiration

Tennant came up with the phrase "It's a sin" when he heard Lowe play a piece of music that sounded to him like a hymn. In the lyrics, he describes some impressions he took from his time at the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

St Cuthbert's Grammar School in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, in particular the teaching that sex is a sin except within marriage for the purpose of procreation. Tennant has said that the song was not intended to be serious: In the coda, Tennant recites a part of the

Confiteor The (; so named from its first word, Latin for 'I confess' or 'I acknowledge') is one of the prayers that can be said during the Penitential Act at the beginning of Mass of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. It is also said in the Luther ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, which translated into English is "I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, act and omission, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault". "It's a Sin" is in the key of

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: Cha ...

; the music for the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

("Father forgive me…") was taken from another song of theirs written in E-flat minor. In Tennant's words, "'It's a Sin', at its heart, is a heavy metal record. There is a huge link between hi-NRG music and heavy metal: the urgency, the chords, the slightly histrionic melody." The dramatic, overblown production style of the song, loaded with synthesizers,

orchestra hit An orchestra(l) hit or stab is an isolated staccato note or chord synthesizer, synthesized from the sounds of many orchestral instruments together, or sampled from a single Sforzando (musical direction), sforzando performance. The orchestra hit ...

s and bookended by a non sequitur sample of a

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countdown, has come to exemplify the most theatrical extremes of the Pet Shop Boys' musical style.

Recording

Julian Mendelsohn was the primary producer of "It's a Sin". He had been selected to co-produce ''Actually'' based on his work on the previous Pet Shop Boys single "

Suburbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

". To add ambience to the track, Mendelsohn went with the duo to

Brompton Oratory Brompton Oratory, also known as the London Oratory, is a neo-classical late-Victorian Catholic parish church in the Brompton area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, neighbouring Knightsbridge, London. Its name stems from Oratorian ...

, a Catholic church in London, to record background sounds that can be heard during the bridge. At

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, is the largest Catholic Church in England and Wales, Roman Catholic church in England and Wales. The shrine is dedicated to the Blood of Jesus Ch ...

, they recorded a sung Mass that happened to be in the right key, C minor; the

amen Amen (, ; , ; , ; , ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic practices as a concluding word, or as a respons ...

response is heard at the end of the song. Keyboard programmer

Andy Richards Andrew John Richards (born 26 October 1952) is an English pianist, Film score, composer, music producer and keyboardist. Richards has played with artists including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, George Michael, Propaganda (band), Propaganda, Grace ...

used a Fairlight to create the choir sound that opens the track. After Mendelsohn moved on to another project, Pet Shop Boys decided they weren't satisfied with the end result, particularly the vocals. They asked

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine, in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session ...

, the producer of '' Please'' (1986), to do another mix, which was the version used on the album and as the single. Mendelsohn commented that although he thought his version had better sound and dynamics, Hague's version was more interesting and the track benefitted from his "fresh ears."

Release

The first single from ''Actually'' was originally slated to be "

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

", but Pet Shop Boys manager Tom Watkins advised them that

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

considered "It's a Sin" to be the most commercial option. "It's a Sin" preceded the album's September release on 15 June 1987 and became the Pet Shop Boys' second number one hit in the UK after " West End Girls". It held the top spot for three weeks during its six weeks in the top 10, and it was the nation's eighth best-selling single of 1987. "It's a Sin" has sold at least 500,000 copies in the UK and is certified Gold by BPI. With 40 million streams as of May 2024, it is the duo's third most streamed song in the UK. It received a boost of nearly 250% in sales and streams after the 2021 premiere of '' It's a Sin'', a television series about the AIDS crisis of the 1980s that was named after the song. "It's a Sin" was a bestseller across Europe, reaching number two on the

European Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

chart in 1987. It was number one in Austria, Denmark, Finland, West Germany, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, and in the top 10 in Belgium, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands. The song also reached number one in South Africa and Zimbabwe and the top 10 in Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand (see

Charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

). A 12-inch single of "It's a Sin" had a remix by

Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, DJ, and prominent Doctor Who fan. A populariser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of hi-NRG, he has co-written and co-produced records with sa ...

, and another featured a Disco Mix by Stephen Hague, which is included on the reissue ''Actually: Further Listening 1987–1988''. A US 12-inch edition included the Hague and Levine remixes along with a Vocal Mix and Dub Mix by

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW and also known as the Hit Factory) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s throug ...

engineer Phil Harding.

Artwork

The cover photo for the single (pictured) was taken by Eric Watson in the unused

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

Christ Church, Spitalfields Christ Church Spitalfields is an Anglican church built between 1714 and 1729 to a design by Nicholas Hawksmoor. On Commercial Street (London), Commercial Street in the East End and in today's Central London it is in the London Borough of Tower H ...

. Tennant compared the image to the painting ''Ennui'' by Walter Sickert, depicting a couple looking bored and detached in a dimly lit room.

Critical reception

In a review published in ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'', Tom Hibbert wrote that "It's a Sin" starts with "an enormous clap of thunder, horns winking in the distance and then an absolute huge slab of European disco drama", noted that it sounds like a song by

Princess Stéphanie of Monaco Princess Stéphanie of Monaco (Stéphanie Marie Elisabeth Grimaldi; born 1 February 1965) is the youngest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and his wife, American actress Grace Kelly. She is the younger sister of Albert II, Prince of Monaco ...

and uses the same notes as

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...

' " Wild World". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' deemed it "a lively and commercial hi-NRG track", and Jerry Smith of ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' called it "a slick new track, given their characteristic epic high-energy production, and sure to receive media overkill in the next few weeks".

Music video

Directed by

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, poet, gardener, and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing ...

, the "It's a Sin" video marked the experimental director's first of several collaborations with the band. It extended the lyrical themes of the song by showing Tennant under arrest by an

inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

with Lowe as his jailer and

Ron Moody Ron Moody (born Ronald Moodnick; 8 January 1924 – 11 June 2015) was an English actor, composer, singer and writer. He was best known for his portrayal of Fagin in '' Oliver!'' (1968) and its 1983 Broadway revival. Moody earned a Golden Glob ...

in the role of his judge, interspersed with brief clips of

personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...

s of the

seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins (also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins) function as a grouping of major vices within the teachings of Christianity. In the standard list, the seven deadly sins according to the Catholic Church are pride, greed ...

Live performances

Pet Shop Boys played "It's a Sin" at a benefit opposing the anti-homosexuality law

Section 28 Section 28 refers to a part of the Local Government Act 1988, which stated that Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with t ...

at the Piccadilly Theatre on 5 June 1988. "It's a Sin" remains a concert staple, being one of only two songs (alongside " West End Girls") that has been played during every Pet Shop Boys tour. They have performed the song combined with

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...

's "

I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, ''Love Tracks (Gloria Gaynor album), Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Pe ...

" at certain concerts, including the 1994 Discovery Tour accompanied by singer Katie Kissoon, and at their 1997

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy ...

residency and the 2000

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with Sylvia Mason-James.

Controversy

Response from St. Cuthbert's

After "It's a Sin" was released, the Newcastle ''

Evening Chronicle The ''Evening Chronicle'', now referred to in print as ''The Chronicle'', is a daily newspaper produced in Newcastle upon Tyne covering North regional news, but primarily focused on Newcastle upon Tyne and surrounding area. The ''Evening Chronic ...

'' published a front-page article calling the song "a direct attack on the religious values preached by the teachers and priests" at the school Tennant had attended. An unnamed spokesman for St. Cuthbert's Grammar School called it "a gross misrepresentation of life at the school and the Catholic faith", and an anonymous staff member, who claimed to have taught Tennant, said: In return, Tennant told ''

'' that the article was embarrassing for his parents, who still lived in Newcastle, and that it was cowardly for school staff to speak anonymously about a former pupil.

Plagiarism accusation

At the time of the single's release, British DJ

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

accused the Pet Shop Boys of plagiarising the melody for "It's a Sin" from

' 1971 song " Wild World". He made the claims in ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' newspaper, for which he wrote a regular column during the 1980s. King went so far as to release his own cover version of "Wild World" as a single, using a similar musical arrangement to "It's a Sin", in an effort to demonstrate his claims. The single flopped and the Pet Shop Boys sued King, eventually winning out-of-court damages, which were donated to Jefferiss Research Trust to support the study of sexually transmitted diseases.

Track listings

* 7": Parlophone / R 6158 (UK) # "It's a Sin" – 4:59 # "You Know Where You Went Wrong" – 5:51 * 12": Parlophone / 12R 6158 (UK) # "It's a Sin" (Disco Mix) – 7:39 # "You Know Where You Went Wrong" – 5:51 # "It's a Sin" (7" version) – 4:59 * CD: Parlophone / CDR 6158 (UK) # "It's a Sin" (7" version) – 4:59 # "You Know Where You Went Wrong" – 5:51 # "It's a Sin" (Disco Mix) – 7:39 * 12": Parlophone / 12RX 6158 (UK) # "It's a Sin" (Remix) (Ian Levine) – 8:15 # "You Know Where You Went Wrong" (Rough Mix) – 6:38 * 12": EMI-Manhattan / V-19256 (US) # "It's a Sin" (Phil Harding Latin Vocal Mix) (aka Miami Mix) – 9:14 # "It's a Sin" (Phil Harding Latin Dub Mix) – 4:20 # "It's a Sin" (Remix) (Ian Levine) – 8:15 # "It's a Sin" (Disco Mix) – 7:39 # "You Know Where You Went Wrong" – 5:51

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes for ''Actually: Further Listening 1987–1988'' and "It's a Sin". Pet Shop Boys * Chris Lowe *

Additional musicians *

– Fairlight programming Technical personnel * Julian Mendelsohn – production,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

– mixing, additional production * David Jacob – mix engineering Artwork * Mark Farrow and Pet Shop Boys – design * Eric Watson – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Cover versions

Years and Years version

On 22 January 2021, British electronic group Years & Years covered the song to coincide with the release of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

series '' It's a Sin'', which stars frontman

Olly Alexander Oliver Alexander Thornton (born 15 July 1990) is an English singer, actor and List of LGBTQ rights activists, LGBTQ activist who rose to prominence as the lead singer of the English pop band Years & Years, who achieved two No. 1 albums on the U ...

in the lead role. The cover was produced by Mark Ralph, with part of the proceeds going to the George House Trust. The band had previously collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys on the 2019 single " Dreamland", and Alexander previewed his version for

prior to its release. A slowed-down version of the song with only piano accompaniment, the cover is in

at a tempo of 126 beats per minute. Pet Shop Boys praised the cover, calling it "beautiful". A music video was released, consisting of clips from ''It's a Sin''. Alexander performed the song as part of the setlist for his 2022 Night Call Tour.

Elton John and Years and Years version

A pre-recorded performance of the song by English musicians

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

and Years & Years aired as part of the 2021 Brit Awards on 11 May 2021. Pet Shop Boys were scheduled to be a part of the performance, but were unable to do so due to a "contractual issue". The duet started as a slower piano track before transitioning into

with accompanying backup dancers and

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

s. A studio recording of the collaboration, produced by Stuart Price and the Pet Shop Boys, was released following the performance, with proceeds going to the Elton John AIDS Foundation. "It's a Sin" debuted at number 57 on the UK Singles Chart and at the top of '' The Official Big Top 40''.

Other versions

Gamma Ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from high energy interactions like the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei or astronomical events like solar flares. It consists o ...

covered the song for their 1999 album ''

Power Plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

''. * American queer pop punk band

Pansy Division Pansy Division is an American queercore band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1991 by guitarist/singer/songwriter Jon Ginoli along with bassist Chris Freeman. Conceived as the first openly gay rock band featuring predominantly gay mus ...

covered the song on their 2016 album '' Quite Contrary.'' * Swedish rock band

Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

released a cover of the song on deluxe editions of the 2018 album ''

Prequelle ''Prequelle'' is the fourth studio album by the Swedish rock band Ghost. It was released on 1 June 2018 and produced by Tom Dalgety. The album's first single, "Rats", was released ahead of the album on 13 April, and as of 28 July, had peaked at n ...

''. *

Jonathan Davis Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, which is considered a pioneering act of the nu metal genre. Davis's ...

, lead singer of

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

covered the song for the soundtrack of the 2021 TV Series

Paradise City "Paradise City" is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). Released as a single in January 1989, it is the only song on the album to feature a synthesizer. The song pea ...

External links

Lyrics: It's a Sin
*

Notes

References