ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I offer a reading of the song ‘Always on My Mind’ by the Pet Shop Boys. In previous studies, Hawkins critiques the duo’s music, performances, and identities, and provokes the reader/listener/viewer into understanding their creativity and artistic portrayal of British culture and society. Hawkins’ method for decoding the creativity of the duo includes surveying the stylistic and technical codes of their music (2002, 132), and exploring performativity situated within their artistic, physical, and technical forms of expression (2009, 74). For the purposes of this chapter, I focus more on the stylistic coding of their music and visuals. I also discuss the (British) time frame, including the sociocultural and political contexts that have shaped the music and visuals of ‘Always on My Mind’, in which the duo unapologetically displays signs of Britishness (or indeed ‘everyday Britain’).
