Uploaded April 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I still remember the first time I heard this B-side track, while stationed in Germany in 1989. I found the song not just pretty, but incredibly sad & poignant. The song itself is a very personal song to Neil Tennant, as it describes the funeral of a friend of his who succumbed to AIDS.
He said , "All the details are true: the cars in slow formation, and so on. He did have an uncle, who had been in the army all of his life and suddenly found himself at the funeral of his evidently gay nephew who'd died of AIDS. I think it must have been quite a difficult situation for him, but he was really nice and dignified and spoke to all of his nephew's friends. I had to give a reading, and the bit I read was from the book of Revelations...at the end it says there's somewhere where there's no pain or fear, and I found it a really moving piece of prose, and attached it to the end of the song." The song is quite somber, obviously, being released just literal months after the friend’s passing, but it also carries just a hint of hesitant optimism at the end.
I, of course, do not own the copyrights to this song.
Copyright (c) – EMI Records Ltd. / Parlophone 1989
Published By – Cage Music Ltd. / 10 Music Ltd.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This channel contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The owner of this channel gains no profit from the broadcast of these materials. I believe that the use of such material for nonprofit educational purposes (and other related purposes) constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in the US Copyright Law at Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. Under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.
I still remember the first time I heard this B-side track, while stationed in Germany in 1989. I found the song not just pretty, but incredibly sad & poignant. The song itself is a very personal song to Neil Tennant, as it describes the funeral of a friend of his who succumbed to AIDS.
He said , "All the details are true: the cars in slow formation, and so on. He did have an uncle, who had been in the army all of his life and suddenly found himself at the funeral of his evidently gay nephew who'd died of AIDS. I think it must have been quite a difficult situation for him, but he was really nice and dignified and spoke to all of his nephew's friends. I had to give a reading, and the bit I read was from the book of Revelations...at the end it says there's somewhere where there's no pain or fear, and I found it a really moving piece of prose, and attached it to the end of the song." The song is quite somber, obviously, being released just literal months after the friend’s passing, but it also carries just a hint of hesitant optimism at the end.
I, of course, do not own the copyrights to this song.
Copyright (c) – EMI Records Ltd. / Parlophone 1989
Published By – Cage Music Ltd. / 10 Music Ltd.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This channel contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The owner of this channel gains no profit from the broadcast of these materials. I believe that the use of such material for nonprofit educational purposes (and other related purposes) constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in the US Copyright Law at Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. Under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.
