Getting Away with It

Electronic was a collaboration of several different talents who came together through inadvertent circumstances. Bernard Sumner, the front man for New Order, was planning to do a solo project. Instead, he teamed up with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who had also been planning a solo career after the breakup of his acclaimed band. They were joined by Pet Shop Boys vocalist Neil Tennant for some of their early songs, including this one. The group performed off and on for about a decade, but was never the sole focus of anyone in the band. This song was their biggest hit, and the only one to make a major impact in the United States. The lyrics were written mostly by Marr to ridicule the image of his former band mate Morrissey, with whom Marr had a bitter falling out.

Feeling the pressure to be prepared for a songwriting session with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of The Pet Shop Boys, Johnny Marr whipped up the core melody of "Getting Away With It" just before their arrival. "I've always tried to arrive at any kind of collaboration not empty-handed," Marr told Music Radar. With David Palmer of The The laying down the drumbeat, Marr had the foundation ready. When Tennant and Sumner joined, the song quickly took shape. Tennant penned the lyrics in no time, Sumner crafted the verse chords, and Chris Lowe laid down the bassline. All four then worked together on the arrangement, tossing ideas back and forth like seasoned chefs with a basket of ingredients. They finished the backing track before heading out to the legendary Haçienda club.

The song includes a rare Johnny Marr guitar solo. "There was an instrumental hole there, and I always knew that it needed a guitar solo," he said. "I guess, looking back on it now, I was probably thinking, Well, it should have a Balearic sound. That was kind of in the air at the time. I guess that was the first acoustic guitar solo that I'd done. I'd sneaked one solo in on the last Smiths record, but yeah, for me, it was a little bit of a breakaway. And I was glad to have done it."