Numb

"Numb" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their ninth studio album, Fundamental (2006). It was released on 15 October 2006 as the album's third and final single, peaking at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart. Up to that point, it was only the duo's 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. Background 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 Hits. The song was previously offered to rock band Aerosmith, whose song "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.