"It's Alright" 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 ...

, released on 26 June 1989 as the third and final single from their third studio album, ''

Introspective ''Introspective'' is the third studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 10 October 1988 by Parlophone. It received generally positive reviews from critics. Background The album was unusual in that it reversed the typic ...

'' (1988). It reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. Written and originally recorded by Sterling Void and Paris Brightledge, the song came to the attention of Pet Shop Boys on a house compilation issued by DJ International Records in 1987. The lyrics list a wide variety of serious political issues in the headlines at the time ("Dictation enforced in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, revolution in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

taking a stand…"), and then offers the positive message of the title—that on its "timeless wavelength", "music is our life's foundation", it "shall last" and ultimately "succeed all the nations to come".

Versions

"It's Alright" was the last song on the ''

'' album and with a length of nine minutes and 26 seconds, it is the longest track on the album and thought to be the Pet Shop Boys' longest track across all albums the band has produced. After significant remixing including the addition of extra synthesizer melodies, the song was released as a single. An additional verse in the single version expands the song's concerns beyond the purely political into environmental issues. On the 10-inch single there are additional lyrics with Tennant singing, "there's a boy standing by a river, there's a girl lying with her lover, there's a statesman standing at a crossroads, there's a soldier polishing his gun". In February 1989, following the song's inclusion on ''Introspective'' but before its release as a single, the original version by Sterling Void was re-issued and reached number 53 in the UK singles chart. Void remixed the Pet Shop Boys recording on the second 12-inch single, titled the "DJ International Mixes".

Hercules and Love Affair Hercules and Love Affair is a dance music project created by American DJ, singer, composer, musician and producer Andy Butler in 2004. Consisting of a rotating cast of performers and musicians, the band work within the genres of house music, di ...

covered the track on their 2011 album '' Blue Songs''.

Critical reception

Jerry Smith from ''

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 ...

'' wrote, "Seemingly always popping up in the right place at the right time, Tennant and Lowe comment on the world's ills with a perky

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

beat and lush synth backing with yet another seductively memorable lyric. Wide exposure is assured." Harriet Dell from ''

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 ...

'' commented, "'It's Alright' was originally recorded by a bloke called Sterling Void and was a largish club hit last year. It includes ''the'' tinkling piano, the P.S.B's famous synthesised string pluckings and Neil Tennant's plaintive voice. He "wails" on about how the trees and flowers are being destroyed, how people eventually have to die, but the ''music lasts forever''. It's a really "big" arrangement but somehow the excitement of Sterling Void's original has been flattened out."

Track listings

* 7-inch and cassette single # "It's Alright" – 4:18 # "One of the Crowd" – 3:54 # "Your Funny Uncle" – 2:16 * 10-inch single :A. "It's Alright" (alternative mix) – 4:46 :B. "It's Alright" (extended dance mix) – 10:34 * 12-inch single :A1. "It's Alright" (extended version) – 8:47 :B1. "One of the Crowd" – 3:54 :B2. "Your Funny Uncle" – 2:16 * 12-inch remix single # "It's Alright" (the Tyree mix) – 8:55 # "It's Alright" (the Sterling Void mix) – 5:34 * CD single # "It's Alright" (seven-inch version) – 4:18 # "One of the Crowd" – 3:54 # "Your Funny Uncle" – 2:16 # "It's Alright" (extended version) – 8:47

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:It's Alright (Pet Shop Boys Song) 1988 songs 1989 singles Parlophone singles Pet Shop Boys songs Song recordings produced by Trevor Horn English house music songs