
From the collection of S. Rutledge
IT’S A SIN
When I look back upon my life
It’s always with a sense of shame
I’ve always been the one to blame
For everything I long to do
No matter when or where or who
Has one thing in common, too
It’s a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a sin
It’s a sin
Everything I’ve ever done
Everything I ever do
Every place I’ve ever been
Everywhere I’m going to
It’s a sin
At school they taught me how to be
So pure in thought and word and deed
They didn’t quite succeed
For everything I long to do
No matter when or where or who
Has one thing in common, too
It’s a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a sin
It’s a sin
Everything I’ve ever done
Everything I ever do
Every place I’ve ever been
Everywhere I’m going to
It’s a sin
Father, forgive me, I tried not to do it
Turned over a new leaf, then tore right through it
Whatever you taught me, I didn’t believe it
Father, you fought me, ’cause I didn’t care
And I still don’t understand
So, I look back upon my life
Forever with a sense of shame
I’ve always been the one to blame
For everything I long to do
No matter when or where or who
Has one thing in common, too
It’s a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a sin
It’s a sin
Everything I’ve ever done
Everything I ever do
Every place I’ve ever been
Everywhere I’m going to – it’s a sin
It’s a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a sin
It’s a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a sin
Confiteor Deo omnipotenti vobis fratres
quia peccavi nimis cogitatione
Verbo
Opere et omission
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa
Christopher Lowe / Neil Tennant
It’s A Sin was the lead single from Pet Shop Boys’ second album, Actually. It was released on June 30, 1987. It became the boys’ second number one single in the UK. It was the best-selling European single of 1987. In the USA, It’s A Sin reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it Pet Shop Boys’ third Top 10 hit in America
The song is a comment on Tennant’s Catholic education at St. Cuthbert High School in Newcastle Upon Tyne, implying that he was taught that everything pleasurable in life is to be regarded as sinful. When it was released, the school complained about the song to the press.
The song uses samples from the Latin Mass. Many of song’s sound effects were recorded in Westminster Cathedral. Tennant has said that he wrote the lyrics in 15 minutes, purging his emotions in a moment of frustration and anger.
The Latin passage near the end translates: “I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, act and omission, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”.
The Baroque over-the top production is filled with synthesizers plus full orchestra, and is bookended by a non-sequitur sample of a NASA countdown.
Pet Shop Boys nearly always include It’s A Sin in the concert set list; one of only two songs, alongside with West End Girls, that has been played during every Pet Shop Boys tour.
When it was releases, British DJ Jonathan King accused the Pet Shop Boys of plagiarizing the melody for It’s a Sin from Cat Stevens’ hit Wild World (1971). He made the claim in The Sun newspaper, where he was a columnist. Pet Shop Boys sued King, winning out-of-court damages, which they donated to charity.
It was bounced out of the Top 10 by I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston in early July.
The original video for It’s A Sin was directed by gay artist / filmmaker Derek Jarman, their first of several highly experimental collaborations. It is not available to post, but here they are in concert from 1989: