We're the Pet Shop Boys

About

We’re the Pet Shop Boys was written by My Robot Friend and first appeared on the project’s 2004 album Hot Action. Robbie Williams recorded his own version for Rudebox in 2006, produced in collaboration with Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe and Chris Zippel. The Pet Shop Boys had themselves covered the song as a B-side in 2005, making Williams’s rendition a cover of their cover — a playful postmodern nod to his pop heroes.

The track is a shimmering electronic homage that celebrates both the Pet Shop Boys’ influence and Williams’s lifelong affection for their music. Its lyrics weave together titles of Pet Shop Boys songs — “Rent,” “Shopping,” “It’s a Sin,” “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” — turning the piece into a love letter to synth-pop’s understated cool. Williams said the song “gave me shivers” when he sang the refrain “What have I, what have I, what have I done to deserve this?” with Tennant and Lowe in the studio.

“The Pet Shop Boys are the godfathers of pop. I felt protected by their songs and it was amazing that they wanted to work with me.”Robbie Williams

Driven by minimalist beats and crystalline synth layers, We’re the Pet Shop Boys closes Rudebox on a note of admiration and continuity, linking Williams’s own experimentation to the lineage of British electronic pop. It stands as both tribute and collaboration, symbolising how Rudebox redefined Williams not only as a pop star but as a student of the genre’s most inventive traditions.