Single, 1984
Here’s how little I know about this song: there are apparently a whole bunch of different versions of it, and the one I have on my iTunes doesn’t fit any of the lengths of the song that are listed on its Wikipedia page. And in fact, the version of “West End Girls” soundtracking the video is substantially different from the one I listened to while writing this post.
Which, I guess, is why “West End Girls” was so inescapable in the mid-1980s: they just kept re-releasing it until it wore down all resistance. Including my reflexive resistance to songs that sounded like “West End Girls.”
That’s of course, because of Neil Tennant’s detached cool, in both his rapping and his singing. In both cases, it felt like he just choosing the best way to get his words out, especially during the crazily catchy chorus.
In a West end town a dead end world
The East end boys and West end girls
In a West end town in a dead end world
The East end boys and West end girls
West end girls
West end girls
I love the clipped way the final “West end girls” hits. It always made me want to know more about them. Which maybe I would have, had I bothered to listen to the rapped verses. But I didn’t, nor did I really notice all of the various bass and keyboard flourishes that garnished “West End Girls,” it was all about that cool crazy catchy chorus. No matter which version you dial up.
“West End Girls”
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