Moments of Pride: The Pet Shop Boys Go West

At the back end of 1993 I was just starting secondary school, a fresh faced kid entering a space where everything was new and shiny. At home we did have much music on in the background, it was mainly talk radio, and what we did was mainly classical. Bougie bird that I am now, for a pre-teen boy that meant that I had literally no concept of pop music, heavy metal, or any other genre of music that my new classmates enjoyed. Yet, somehow, somewhere I heard Go West, and oh baby did my little head spin in that direction.

Listening back on it nearly 30 years later I burst into tears, emotion overwhelming me because a deep part of me just clicked with what the song and lyrics said. At the time I was part of a Christian household that has no discussion of queer issues, and at school the UK’s Section 28 banned any mention of gay stuff, so most of the subtext behind the song sailed right over my head. I did not even know the Petshop Boys were gay. Present me sees so much more in the lyrics, yet the 11 year old kid saw it as inspiration, freedom, and a new way of seeing the world. I even made a comic based on it and used it for a design tech project.

Each of us has our moments of Pride, the comings out, the realisations, the joy that is simply being us. Go West is probably my second such moment, with the first my personal realisation I was trans. To find music that resonated so deeply was wonderful, opening up a whole world of sound that never existed in my world before. Not that pop music was banned at home, but because it was simply not present. Not talked about. Yet, at an all boys school talking about the Pet Shop Bours was not exactly kosher either. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Korn yes. Neil Tennant, no.

I am not normally one to make a big deal about Pride, but I think in the current gender climate where any deviation from a perceived norm is stomped on admitting that you like a certain artist or song is just as valid as wearing certain clothes or flying a flag. The Pet Shop Boys are inherently gay, queer as fuck, and unashamedly so. It’s a Sin and Always on My Mind are absolute classics, yet for me Go West still evokes a visceral deep emotion I rarely feel with other songs. My 11 year old self may not have known all the song’s context, but 41 year old me is glad they discovered it. Hold my hand and let’s go west.ac