“Domino Dancing” is a song recorded by the British synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, released as the lead single from their 1988 album, Introspective. It reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.
Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, influenced by Latin pop and apparently also by the song “Elle est comme les étoiles” by Desireless, the song was produced by Lewis A. Martinée, the Miami-based producer behind 1980s freestyle groups like Exposé. The song was also recorded at Martinée’s studio in Miami, resulting in a considerably large number of studio musicians for a Pet Shop Boys song being featured on it.
The duo had achieved three number ones in 1987–1988 and Domino Dancing was expected to continue this success. But the public reception to the duo’s new Latin sound proved disappointing. Tennant remembers: “…it entered the charts at number nine and I thought, ‘that’s that, then – it’s all over’. I knew then that our imperial phase of number one hits was over.”
The single missed the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #18, and was the duo’s sixth and, to date, last Top 20 pop hit in the USA. (In fact, they have not made the top 60 since Domino Dancing.) The song did reach #5 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, where the duo have seen more consistent success.
Domino Dancing
(All day, all day)
I don’t know why, I don’t know how
I thought I loved you but I’m not sure now
I’ve seen you look at strangers too many times
The love you want is of a different kind
Remember when we felt the sun
A love like paradise, how hot it burned
A threat of distant thunder, the sky was red
and where you walked you always turned every head
(All day, all day) Watch them all fall down
(All day, all day) Domino dancing
(All day, all day) Watch them all fall down
(All day, all day) Domino dancing
I thought that when we fought I was to blame
but now I know you play a different game
I’ve watched you dance with danger still wanting more
Add another number to the score
(All day, all day) Watch them all fall down
(All day, all day) Domino dancing
(All day, all day) Watch them all fall down
(All day, all day) Domino dancing
When you look around you wonder
Do you play to win
or are you just a bad loser?
(All day, all day) Watch them all fall down
(All day, all day) Domino dancing
I don’t know why, I don’t know how
I thought I loved you but I’m not sure now
I hear the thunder crashing, the sky is dark
and now a storm is breaking within my heart
(All day, all day) Watch them all fall down
(All day, all day) Domino dancing
(All day, all day) Watch them all fall down
(All day, all day) Domino dancing
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