Song · Pet Shop Boys
“Can You Forgive Her?” by Pet Shop Boys
From the album Very (1993)
“Can You Forgive Her?” by Pet Shop Boys appears on 6 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1993 and 2003. It was first released in 1993 on the album Very. Its best result is #56 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #65 alternative song of 1993 and #5,251 alternative song of all time.
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Video from YouTube (PetShopBoys Parlophone). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Can You Forgive Her?" kicked off Very, the Pet Shop Boys' fifth album, as its lead single in 1993, and it's melodrama in a sharp suit. Neil Tennant sings it in the second person, narrating a young man's squirming humiliation as his girlfriend accuses him of still carrying a torch for a childhood friend and announces she's off to find somebody more manly. The title is borrowed from Anthony Trollope's novel of the same name.
Tennant and Chris Lowe wrote and produced it, with Stephen Hague adding production and helping mix, and the synth-pop is every bit as grand as the lyric is mortifying. It debuted at number seven in Britain, their 13th top-10 single there; in America it missed the Hot 100 but topped the Billboard Dance Club Play chart. Howard Greenhalgh shot the video in London.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 56 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1993 | 91 |
| 1993 | 81 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105 Songs of 1993 | 105 |
| 1993 | 89 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1993 | 101 |
| 1993 | 56 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1839 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1140 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
Also listed as: Can You Forgive Her.
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