Pet Shop Boys – Left To My Own Devices

Released in 1988, “Left To My Own Devices” was the second single from the Pet Shop Boys’ third studio album, Introspective. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe and produced by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson, it represented one of the duo’s most ambitious combinations of electronic pop and orchestral music.

The song is an exaggerated, semi-autobiographical portrait of independence and everyday life. Tennant describes getting out of bed, drinking tea, talking on the telephone, going out and pursuing his own interests, presenting an ordinary routine with deliberately grandiose language. He described it as an “exaggerated autobiography”, with elements drawn from his childhood and experiences.

Musically, the contrast is extraordinary. Lowe’s electronic foundations are expanded by a lavish orchestral arrangement by Richard Niles, with strings and brass giving the track a huge, cinematic quality. Sally Bradshaw contributes the operatic vocal passages, while the electronic rhythm continues underneath, creating a remarkable meeting of dance music and orchestral pop.

The production was deliberately ambitious, reflecting the Pet Shop Boys’ admiration for large-scale pop productions by artists such as Phil Spector and The Beatles, as well as Trevor Horn’s own work with ABC and The Art Of Noise.

“Left To My Own Devices” remains one of the Pet Shop Boys’ most inventive recordings, turning mundane details of everyday existence into something theatrical, dramatic and unexpectedly epic.

The song peaked at No. 04 in the UK singles chart on the 3rd December 1988.