The Night I Fell in Love (song)
{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} Template:Infobox song "The Night I Fell in Love" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys on their 2002 album, Release. The lyrics were written by Neil Tennant and the music was co-written with Chris Lowe. The song describes a sexual encounter between a gay fan and his rap music idol, who is modeled after Eminem.
Background and composition
"The Night I Fell in Love" was written in 2001, using music from an unreleased song composed in 1993.<ref name="releasefurther">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Tennant and Lowe were fans of Eminem, and the song was a response to accusations of homophobia against the American rapper.<ref name="100 Lyrics">Template:Cite book</ref> Discussing the song's inspiration, Tennant said:
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The song was written as a fantasy between two characters and was not intended to imply that Eminem himself is gay.<ref name="100 Lyrics"/><ref name="releasefurther"/> Tennant specified that the fan character, described as school-age in the song, was 18 years old.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Pet Shop Boys decided not to name the rapper. The original title was changed from "The Night I Met Eminem", and the line "I'd met Eminem" became "I'd fallen in love".<ref name="releasefurther"/> However, references in the lyrics to Dr. Dre and homophobia in rap music make it possible to identify him. The most obvious reference is when the rapper refers to Eminem's song "Stan":<ref name="mtv"/>
- Then he joked
"Hey, man!
Your name isn't Stan, is it?
We should be together!"
Response
MTV News played "The Night I Fell in Love" to Dr. Dre, who is named in the song, and he responded: "They just gave us a concept. Oh my God. I hope they can stand the backlash. That's funny as hell."<ref name="mtv"/>
Eminem answered the song in "Can-I-Bitch", which appeared on the bootleg album Straight from the Lab in 2003. The song is mainly a diss track about the rapper Canibus, but it features a moment in which Eminem and Dr. Dre run over the Pet Shop Boys with their car:<ref name="NME">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The sound of four tire impacts is followed by the line:
- "What was that?"
"Pet Shop Boys"
Lowe said of the response, "He does it very humorously!"<ref name="NME"/>
Critical reception
The song was mentioned in a number of album reviews of Release. Robert Christgau wrote: "The Eminem track is ... wondrous, transcendent, a blow against rap homophobia, a great work of art. If buying this album is the only way you can hear it, don't hesitate."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Betty Clarke of The Guardian commented: "The Night I Fell in Love, in which a schoolboy's passion for a homophobic rapper is rewarded with some backstage shenanigans, is both beautifully observed and surprisingly sweet. Even Eminem would smile".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club observed: "Essentially rewriting "Stan" as an ode to a meaningful one-night stand, Tennant makes the subject more poignant than pointed: "When I asked why have I heard so much / about him being charged with homophobia and stuff / he just shrugged." The same unspoken understanding that life doesn't always fall into neat patterns, or live up to expectations good or bad, can be found throughout Release".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In CMJ New Music Monthly, Kevin John wrote: "And if you swallow Eminem's homophobia along with his non-pareil rage, then "The Night I Fell In Love" should break your heart. Simultaneously outrageous and touching, it recounts a young man's bittersweet one-night love affair with the real Slim Shady after a concert and, for once, the rhetoric of "keeping it real" gets jammed with sweet, queer frequencies".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Live performances
Pet Shop Boys performed "The Night I Fell in Love" on certain dates of the Release Tour in 2002, including shows in Los Angeles <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and New York, where Tennant introduced the song saying, "It's about a young rap fan who goes to see his hero, and something very surprising happens to him".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Release: Further Listening 2001–2004.<ref name="releasefurther"/>
Pet Shop Boys
Additional musicians
- Johnny Marr – guitar
- Steve Walters – bass guitar
- Jody Linscott – percussion
Technical personnel
- Pet Shop Boys – production
- Pete Gleadall – engineering, programming
- Michael Brauer – mixing
- Rick Chavarria – mixing assistant