"You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" 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 3 January 2000 as the third and final single from their seventh studio album, ''

Nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...

'' (1999). It reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart and was the highest charting single from the album.

Background and composition

"You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" was written in 1994 and was originally demoed in 1995 during sessions for ''

Bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

'' (1996). The title was inspired by

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 ...

's personal experience in a relationship; he thought it was too soon to record the song for release at the time. Pet Shop Boys worked on the song for ''Nightlife'' in Glasgow with producer and composer Craig Armstrong, who wrote the orchestral arrangement. Armstrong described the song as having a

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, or d ...

sound. B. J. Cole played

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

on the track. The duo considered fitting the song into their musical, '' Closer to Heaven'' (2001), which they were working on at the same time, but they decided against it. The song was offered by their

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectu ...

as a potential

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

for other artists, but nothing came of it.

Release

Released on 3 January 2000, "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" reached the Top 10 in the UK, peaking at number eight. It charted higher than the two previous singles from ''Nightlife'' but sold fewer copies its first week, with sales of 16,700. Lead single " I Don't Know What You Want but I Can't Give It Any More" debuted at number 15 with 26,300 copies sold, and " New York City Boy" opened at number 14 selling 22,700. Alan Jones 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 ...

'' explained it as a sign of low sales overall in the post-Christmas period. The single was used to promote the Nightlife Tour, which had started in 1999 and continued into 2000. There were three CD singles which also came as a boxset. CD1 was an

enhanced CD Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both CD-Audio and CD-ROM players. Formats that fall under the ''enhanced CD'' cate ...

that included the music video along with two new B-sides: "Lies", with Chris Lowe on lead vocals, and "Sail Away" by

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

, which Pet Shop Boys recorded for the tribute album '' Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noël Coward'' (1998). CD2 had three remixes of "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk", and CD3 had a live version recorded on the Nightlife Tour, along "

Always on My Mind "Always on My Mind" is a Sentimental ballad, ballad written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James (songwriter), Mark James, first recorded by Brenda Lee and first released by Gwen McCrae (as "You Were Always on My Mind") in Mar ...

" and "

Being Boring "Being Boring" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released in November 1990 by Parlophone as the second single from their fourth studio album, ''Behaviour'' (1990). The song was written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, and produc ...

" from the same concert. There was also a 12-inch double vinyl with four remixes.

Artwork

The CD1 single (pictured) showcased Tennant and Lowe's ''Nightlife'' look, wearing orange wigs, dark glasses, and prominent fake eyebrows. CD2 and CD3 showed them in costume during a Nightlife Tour concert, with the former featuring Lowe on the cover and the latter with Tennant. The 12-inch vinyl had a solid orange cover, matching the wigs, with individual photos of Tennant and Lowe similar to CD1 on the inner sleeves. The promotional copies were labeled "Drunk" instead of the full song title at designer Mark Farrow's suggestion.

Critical reception

''Music Week'' described the Pet Shop Boys' single as "Drenched in their typical brand of pathos and soul". Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' ranked it at number 13 on his list of "Pet Shop Boys' 30 greatest songs" in 2023. He cited the "unexpected sound of pedal steel guitar" and concluded, "The effect is heartfelt and genuinely touching, the lush strings bolstering its romantic misery".

Music video

The video was directed by Pedro Romhanyi, who had also directed " I Don't Know What You Want but I Can't Give It Any More". It was filmed at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of Pinewood Group, the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not ...

in London before the start of the Nightlife Tour in October 1999. It opens with a shot from above of a group of people lying on the ground and entwined in each other's arms in the aftermath of a party, with multiple versions of Tennant and Lowe among them. The partiers get up to dance in the middle of the song and then fall back to the floor asleep. The video was filmed in black and white, using a speeded up recording process for a slowed down presentation.

Live performances

"You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" was performed on the Nightlife Tour (1999–2000) and the Release Tour (2002). It was also on the set list for the Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live tour in 2022. The song was performed with the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

at the

Mermaid Theatre The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre encompassing the site of Puddle Dock and Curriers' Alley at Blackfriars in the City of London, and the first built in the City since the time of Shakespeare. It was, importantly, also one of the first new th ...

in May 2006 and appears on the live album ''

Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

'' (2006).

Track listings

All tracks are written by

and Chris Lowe except where noted. All live tracks were recorded at the Aerial Theater in Houston, Texas, on 25 October 1999. * UK CD1 # "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" – 3:16 # "Lies" – 4:42 # "Sail Away" (

) – 4:37 # "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" (music video) * UK CD2 # "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" (The T-Total mix edit) – 5:00 # "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" ( Brother Brown's Newt mix) – 10:00 # "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" (Attaboy Still Love You When We're Sober mix) – 4:57 * UK CD3 # "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" (live) – 2:34 # "

" (live) – 4:02 # "

" (live) – 6:46 * UK 2×12-inch single :A. "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" (Brother Brown's Newt mix) – 10:00 :B. "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" (Attaboy Still Love You When We're Sober mix) – 8:00 :C. "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" (The T-Total mix) – 8:14 :D. "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" (Brother Brown's Newt dub) – 7:41 * European CD single # "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk" (live) – 2:34 # "Always on My Mind" (live) – 4:02

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Nightlife: Further Listening 1996–2000'' and "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk". Pet Shop Boys * Chris Lowe *

Additional musicians * Pete Lockett – percussion * Stephen Hilton – programming, additional keyboards * Craig Armstrong – piano, additional keyboards *Ali MacLeod – guitar * B. J. Cole –

*Scott J. Fraser – bass guitar * The London Session Orchestra – strings * Gavyn Wright – orchestra leader Technical personnel *Craig Armstrong – production, arrangement, orchestration *Pet Shop Boys – production, arrangement *Andy Bradfield – engineering *Goetz – mixing *Isobel Griffiths Ltd. – orchestra contractor * Geoff Foster – strings recording Artwork * Farrow Design – design * Harry Borden – photography (CD1) *Lester Cohen – photography (CD2, CD3) * Ian MacNeil – costume design

Charts

External links

Lyrics: You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk

Notes

References

{{Authority control 1999 songs 2000 singles Parlophone singles Pet Shop Boys songs Songs written by Chris Lowe Songs written by Neil Tennant Music videos directed by Pedro Romhanyi