*** Welcome to piglix ***

Numb (Pet Shop Boys song)

"Numb"
NumbPSB.jpg
Single by Pet Shop Boys
from the album Fundamental
B-side "Party Song", "Bright Young Things", "Psychological"
Released 16 October 2006
Format 7", 12", CD, Maxi-CD
Recorded 6 May 2003
Genre Synthpop
Length 4:42 (album version)
3:27 (radio edit)
Label Parlophone
Writer(s) Diane Warren
Producer(s) Trevor Horn, Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys singles chronology
"Minimal"
(2006)
"Numb"
(2006)
"She's Madonna"
(2007)

"Numb" is a song recorded by the Pet Shop Boys and is featured on their album Fundamental. It was released on 16 October 2006 as the third single from that album, peaking at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart (see 2006 in British music). Up to that point, it was only their second single in 39 releases to miss the UK Top 20 (the other being "Was It Worth It?" from 1991, which peaked at number 24).

The ballad was widely used throughout the year, mainly in an edited version used in a montage for England's elimination from the 2006 FIFA World Cup on the BBC Match of the Day programme in early July 2006.

Composed by Los Angeles songwriter Diane Warren, known for many commercial radio-friendly hits, "Numb" was originally procured by the Pet Shop Boys to be one of the new singles on the 2003 compilation PopArt. The song was previously offered to rock band Aerosmith, whose hit "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was written by Warren; it was rejected.

The reputations of the parties involved immediately suggested a stylistic clash; Warren's songs are often heavily emotive love songs (described by the band as the "Los Angeles ballad" style), while the Pet Shop Boys are characterized by largely synthetic sounds and Neil Tennant's restrained, dispassionate singing. This discontinuity was highlighted by Tennant's often-recounted anecdote of Warren offering the duo another song (still unrecorded to date) titled "Kisses on the Wind", which was flatly rejected due to its title.

Tennant discussed Diane Warren's work in the BBC Radio 2 documentary "Real Song - The Diane Warren Story", which was produced by Malcolm Prince in 2003. The series included Warren's own demo of "Numb".


...
Wikipedia

...