It's a Sin

"It's a Sin" is a song recorded by Pet Shop Boys which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in 1987.

Background and writing
Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, "It's a Sin" was the lead single from the duo's second "proper" album, Actually. Released in June 1987, it became the duo's second UK number one single. It was also a massive hit across Europe, supposedly the best-selling European single of 1987. In the United States it reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the duo's third Top 10 hit there. A demo of the track was first cut in 1984 with Bobby O, and the song's form in the demo remained intact to the final version, although the released production is far more dramatic.

The song is a description of Tennant's Catholic upbringing and education at St Cuthbert's High School in Newcastle upon Tyne. The song uses extensive samples from Latin masses (specifically, Tennant reciting a part of the Confiteor, and other sounds recorded at locations such as Westminster Cathedral) and religious imagery throughout to reinforce the feel of the song. 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 as, "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 dramatic, overblown production style of the song, loaded with synthesizers, orchestra hits and bookended by a non sequitur sample of a NASA countdown, has come to exemplify the most theatrical extremes of the Pet Shop Boys' musical style. To date, it remains a concert staple, being one of only two songs (alongside "West End Girls") that has been played during every Pet Shop Boys tour.

Controversy
At the time of the single's release, British DJ Jonathan King accused Pet Shop Boys of plagiarising the melody for "It's a Sin" from Cat Stevens' 1971 hit, "Wild World". He made the claims in The Sun newspaper, for which he wrote a regular column during the 1980s. King also released his own cover version of "Wild World" as a single, using a similar musical arrangement to "It's a Sin", in an effort to demonstrate his claims. This single flopped, while Pet Shop Boys sued King, eventually winning out-of-court damages, which they donated to charity.

Track listing
7": Parlophone / R 6158 (UK)
 * 1) "It's a Sin" (4:59)
 * 2) "You Know Where You Went Wrong" (5:51)

12": Parlophone / 12R 6158 (UK)
 * 1) "It's a Sin"  (Disco Mix) (7:39)
 * 2) "You Know Where You Went Wrong" (5:51)
 * 3) "It's a Sin" (7" Version) (4:59)

CD: Parlophone / CDR 6158 (UK)
 * 1) "It's a Sin" (7" Version) (4:59)
 * 2) "You Know Where You Went Wrong" (5:51)
 * 3) "It's a Sin" (Disco Mix) (7:39)

12": Parlophone / 12RX 6158 (UK)
 * 1) "It's a Sin" (Remix) (Ian Levine) - 8:15
 * 2) "You Know Where You Went Wrong" (Rough Mix) - 6:38

12" Remix (US)
 * 1) "It's a Sin" (Phil Harding Latin Vocal Mix) (9:14)
 * 2) "It's a Sin" (Phil Harding Latin Dub Mix) (4:20)
 * 3) "It's a Sin" (Remix) (8:15)
 * 4) "It's a Sin" (Disco Mix) (7:39)
 * 5) "You Know Where You Went Wrong" (5:51)

Other recordings
In 2004, the band participated in Passport Back to the Bars, a series of benefit concerts to raise funds for Shelter and War Child, set in the various Barfly venues. Their show at the Camden Town Barfly (17 March 2004) was noted as their first-ever without backing musicians; it included a new arrangement of "It's a Sin", which would later be recorded in the studio, performed on Parkinson, and finally released on the 2006 compilation Popjustice: 100% Solid Pop Music.

Music video
Directed by Derek Jarman, the "It's a Sin" video marked the experimental director's first of several collaborations with the band. It extended the lyrical themes of the song by showing Tennant under arrest by an inquisition with Lowe as his jailer and Ron Moody in the role of his judge, interspersed with brief clips of personifications of the seven deadly sins

Cover versions

 * Cantopop singer Danny Chan made a cover version in 1987.
 * In 1989, Mexican pop singer, Lucero made a cover with a different Spanish version, for the album Cuéntame, with the name of Hojas Secas, produced by José Ramón Flores.
 * In 1997, Corporal Punishment covered the song.
 * The German power metal band Gamma Ray covered the song on their 1999 album Powerplant.
 * The Italian death metal band Graveworm included their cover of the song as a bonus track on the Japanese version of their Engraved in Black album in 2003 and To/Die/For did the same with their All Eternity album in 2000.
 * The Irish indie rock band JJ72 recorded a cover of the song as the B-Side to their single "Algeria" in 2001
 * The German synthpop band X-Perience released a cover of It's A Sin as promotional single in 2003 with remixes by Groove Coverage and Angel_One. It reached the Top10 of the German DJ Playlist.
 * It has subsequently been recorded by Paul Anka on the 2005 covers album Rock Swings and The Crüxshadows. Paul Anka gave the song a downtempo swing jazz treatment, and also changed some lyrics: the lines "At school they taught me how to be / so pure in thought and word and deed" were modified to "My father taught me how to be..." instead, thus changing the context of the later line "Father forgive me...", which would otherwise refer to a Roman Catholic priest. In addition, the repeated intonements of "It's a sin" in the chorus are drawn out further, with variations such as "What a sin" and "Such a sin" added.
 * The Italian futurepop band XP8 recorded a trance-infused version of the song for the compilation Always On Our Minds: A Tribute To Pet Shop Boys, released in 2006 by the American label Synthphony Records.
 * The American electronic rock band Sensuous Enemy covered this song on their 2008 release Fragments.
 * At the 2009 BRIT Awards, Brandon Flowers (lead singer of The Killers) entered to this song and dueted with Neil Tennant the first chorus
 * Finnish band The Rasmus performed the song in several live performances.

Chart successions