So Hard

So Hard is the title of a song written and recorded by the Pet Shop Boys, released in September 1990 as the lead single from their fourth studio album Behaviour.

Style & content
The song is a typical electronic dance track, drawing on the fashionable house music style, and also samples the Space Invaders video game.

The lyrics are about “two people living together; they are totally unfaithful to each other but they both pretend they are faithful and then catch each other out.”

Single release

 * So Hard is the first track and single to be released by the duo in the 1990s and was highly anticipated, as their last release had been It's Alright in mid-1989.
 * The b side was another new track entitled It Must Be Obvious.

Tracklistings
7" Parlophone r6269 CD Parlophone CDR 6269
 * 1) So Hard
 * 2) It Must Be Obvious
 * 1) So Hard
 * 2) It Must Be Obvious
 * 3) So Hard (Extended Dance Mix)

Remixes

 * Julain Mendelsohn: single & album versions
 * David Morales: Red Zone Mix, Radio mix,
 * The KLF vs. Pet Shop Boys (also It Must Be Obvious)

Promo video
Directed by long-time PSB collaborator Eric Watson, filmed in and around his (and Tenant's) native Newcastle.

Availability

 * all Pet Shop Boys singles compilations issued after 1990 (2001 Remaster on Pop Art)
 * Behaviour (all issues) - 2018 remaster on Behaviour/Further Listening 1990-1991 (2018).
 * Extended Dance Mix on Behaviour/Further Listening 1990-1991
 * an excerpt from the Dave Morales Red Zone Mix appears on Disco 2 (1994)
 * It Must be Obvious features on Alternative (1995) and Behaviour/Further Listening 1990-1991.
 * live performance of So Hard appears on the Performance concert video (1991) Pet Shop Boys - So Hard (live) 1991 -HD-