Can You Forgive Her

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First released in 1993, this song was the first single from the Pet Shop Boys album Very. This song tells the story of a man who hasn't accepted his homosexuality and whose girlfriend constantly torments him about it, using his insecurities around the memories of a male lover to get him to behave the way she wants. This is another example of a song's lyrics contrasting with the music. At the center of this song's message is the self-loathing and humiliation experienced by a gay man who has rejected a part of himself, but it all plays out against a musical arrangement that is deliriously over-the-top fun. The lyrics are even delivered in a very teasing, playful voice that makes you feel so happy you don't even notice how sad the story is.

Another night with open eyes
Too late to sleep, too soon to rise
You're short of breath, is it a heart attack?
Hot and feverish you face the fact
You're in love and it feels like shame
Because she's gone and made a fool of you in public again
You're in love and it feels like pain
Because you know there's too much truth in everything she claims

So ask yourself now
Can you forgive her
If she wants you to?
Ask yourself
Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?

You drift into the strangest dreams
Of youthful follies and changing teams
Admit you're wrong, oh, no, not yet
Then you wake up and remember that you can't forgotten
She's made you some kind of laughing stock
Because you dance to disco and you don't like rock
She made fun of you and even in bed
Said she was gonna go and get herself a real man instead

So ask yourself now
Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
Ask yourself
Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Or do you want revenge?
But that's childish, so childish

Remember when you were more easily led
Behind the cricket pavilion and the bicycle shed
Trembling as your dreams came true
You looked right into those blue eyes and knew
It was love and now you can't pretend
You've forgotten all the promises of that first friend
It's bad enough she knows how you feel
But she's not prepared to share you with a memory

So ask yourself now
Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
Ask yourself
Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Ask yourself now
Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
And ask yourself
Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Or do you want revenge?
But that's childish, so childish

Written by Tennant/Lowe

Works Cited

A large part of this song analysis was attained from the Pet Shop Boys fansite Geowayne: Commentary, Interpretation, and Analysis of Every Song by Pet Shop Boys. Retrieved from http://www.geowayne.com/newDesign/very/pointofview.htm

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