Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode in Barcelona 2006

Depeche Mode are a highly influential English electronic music band, formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting); former members include Vince Clarke, Alan Wilder and Andy Fletcher. They are one of the longest-lived and most successful bands to have emerged from the New Wave and New Romantic era, but were actually part of the "futurist" scene. As of 2006, it was estimated that Depeche Mode have sold over 73 million albums worldwide.

Song lyrics

All songs written by Martin Gore, except as noted.

Speak & Spell (1981)

• I stand still, stepping on the shady streets
  And I watched that man to a stranger.
  You think you only know me when you turn on the light,
  Now the room is lit red danger.

  Complicating, circulating,
  New life, new life.
  Operating, generating,
  New life, new life.

  • "New Life", written by Vince Clarke

• When I'm with you baby,
  I go out of my head.
  And I just can't get enough,
  And I just can't get enough.
  All the things you do to me,
  And everything you said.
  I just can't get enough,
  I just can't get enough.
  • "Just Can't Get Enough", written by Vince Clarke

• Light switch, man switch,
  Film was broken only then.
  All the night, fused tomorrow,
  Dancing with a distant friend.

  Filming and screening,
  I picture the scene.
  Filming and dreaming,
  Dreaming of me.

  • "Dreaming of Me", written by Vince Clarke

A Broken Frame (1982)

• I've told myself so many times before,
  But this time I think I mean it for sure.
  We have reached a full stop,
  Nothing's going to save us from the big drop.

  Reached our natural conclusion,
  Outlived the illusion.
  I hate being in these situations
  That call for diplomatic relations.

  • "Leave in Silence"

• I've read more than a hundred books,
  Seen love mentioned many thousand times.
  But despite all the places I've looked,
  It's still no clearer, it's just not enough.
  I'm still no nearer, the meaning of love.
  • "The Meaning of Love"

Construction Time Again (1983)

• All of these insurmountable tasks
  That lay before me,
  All of the firsts and the definite lasts
  That lay in store for me.

  There was a time
  When all on my mind was love.
  Now I find that most of the time
  Love's not enough in itself.

  • "Love, in Itself"

• The grabbing hands grab all they can,
  All for themselves, after all.
  The grabbing hands grab all they can,
  All for themselves, after all.
  It's a competitive world.
  Everything counts in large amounts.
  • "Everything Counts"

Some Great Reward (1984)

• So we're different colours and we're different creeds,
  And different people have different needs.
  It's obvious you hate me, though I've done nothing wrong.
  I've never even met you, so what could I have done?

  I can't understand
  What makes a man
  Hate another man.
  Help me understand.

  People are people, so why should it be
  You and I should get along so awfully?
  People are people, so why should it be
  You and I should get along so awfully?.

  • "People Are People"

• She will listen to me when I want to speak
  About the world we live in and life in general.
  Though my views may be wrong, they may even be perverted,
  She'll hear me out and won't easily be converted.
  To my way of thinking, in fact, she'll often disagree.
  But at the end of it all, she will understand me.
  • "Somebody"

• I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours
  but I think that God's got a sick sense of humour.
  And when I die, I expect to find Him laughing.
  • "Blasphemous Rumours"

Black Celebration (1986)

• Fragile, like a baby in your arms,
  Be gentle with me, I'd never willingly do you harm.
  Apologies are all you seem to get from me.
  But just like a child, you make me smile when you care for me.
  And you know

  It's a question of lust, it's a question of trust.
  It's a question of not letting what we've built up crumble to dust.
  It is all of these things and more
  That keep us together.

  • "A Question of Lust"

• It's just a question of time,
  And it's running out for you.
  It won't be long until you'll do
  Exactly what they want you to.
  • "A Question of Time"

Music for the Masses (1987)

• We're flying high,
  We're watching the world pass us by.
  Never want to come down,
  Never want to put my feet back down on the ground.
  • "Never Let Me Down Again"

• Strangelove, strange highs and strange lows
  Strangelove, that's how my love goes
  Strangelove, will you give it to me?

  Will you take the pain I will give to you
  Again and again and will you return it?

  • "Strangelove"

• Oh, little girl, there are times when I feel
  I'd rather not be the one behind the wheel.
  Come, pull my strings,
  Watch me move, I do anything, please.
  • "Behind the Wheel"

Violator (1990)

• Let me take you on a trip
  Around the world and back,
  And you won't have to move, you just sit still.
  Now let your mind do the walking
  And let my body do the talking,
  Let me show you the world in my eyes.
  • "World in My Eyes"

• Your own personal Jesus
  Someone to hear your prayers
  Someone who cares
  Your own personal Jesus
  Someone to hear your prayers
  Someone who's there
  • "Personal Jesus"

• Reach out and touch faith.
  • "Personal Jesus"

• Words like violence break the silence,
  Come crashing in, into my little world.
  Painful to me, pierce right through me.
  Can't you understand? Oh, my little girl

  All I ever wanted
  All I ever needed
  Is here in my arms
  Words are very unnecessary
  They can only do harm

  • "Enjoy the Silence"

• Vows are spoken to be broken,
  Feelings are intense, words are trivial.
  Pleasures remain, so does the pain,
  Words are meaningless and forgettable.
  • "Enjoy the Silence"

• It's too late to change events.
  It's time to face the consequence
  For delivering the proof
  In the policy of truth.

  Never again is what you swore
  The time before.
  Never again is what you swore
  The time before.

  • "Policy of Truth"

Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993)

• I feel you, your heart it sings.
  I feel you, the joy it brings.
  Where heaven waits, those golden gates and back again,
  You take me to and lead me through oblivion.

  This is the morning of our love.
  It's just the dawning of our love.

  • "I Feel You"

• I would tell you about the things they put me through,
  The pain I've been subjected to,
  But the Lord himself would blush.
  The countless feasts laid at my feet,
  Forbidden fruits for me to eat,
  But I think your pulse would start to rush.

  Now I'm not looking for absolution,
  Forgiveness for the things I do.
  But before you come to any conclusions,
  Try walking in my shoes.
  Try walking in my shoes.

  • "Walking in My Shoes"

• If you see purity as immaturity,
  Well, it's no surprise.
  If for kindness you substitute blindness,
  Please open your eyes.
  • "Condemnation"

• Will you let the morning come soon,
  Or will you leave me lying here?
  In your favourite darkness,
  Your favourite half-light,
  Your favourite consciousness,
  Your favourite slave.

  In your room,
  Where souls disappear.
  Only you exist here.

  • "In Your Room"

Ultra (1997)

• This twisted, tortured mess,
  This bed of sinfulness,
  Who's longing for some rest
  And feeling numb.

  What do you expect of me?
  What is it you want?
  Whatever you've planned for me,
  I'm not the one.

  • "Barrel of a Gun"

• Here is a page from the emptiest stage,
  A cage or the heaviest cross ever made,
  A gauge of the deadliest trap ever laid.

  And I thank you for bringing me here,
  For showing me home, for singing these tears.
  Finally, I've found that I belong here.

  • "Home"

• I'm gonna take my time,
  I have all the time in the world
  To make you mine.
  It is written in the stars above,
  The gods decree.
  You'll be right here by my side,
  Right next to me.
  You can run but you cannot hide.
  • "It's No Good"

• Well it's about time,
  It's beginning to hurt.
  Time you made up your mind,
  Just what is it all worth?

  All my useless advice,
  All my hanging around.
  All your cutting down to size,
  All my bringing you down.

  • "Useless"

Exciter (2001)

• As your boney fingers close around me,
  Long and spindly, death becomes me.
  Heaven, can you see what I see?
  Hey, you pale and sickly child,
  You're death and living reconciled.
  Been walking home a crooked mile.

  Paying debt to karma,
  You party for a living.
  What you take won't kill you,
  But careful what you're given, mmhmm.

  • "Dream On"

• There's no time for hesitating,
  Pain is ready, pain is waiting,
  Primed to do its educating.
  Unwanted, uninvited kin,
  It creeps beneath your crawling skin.
  It lives without, it lives within you.

  Feel the fever coming,
  You're shaking and twitching.
  You can scratch all over,
  But that won't stop you itching.

  • "Dream On"

• If you've been hiding from love,
  If you've been hiding from love,
  I can understand where you're coming from.
  I can understand where you're coming from.
  If you've suffered enough,
  If you've suffered enough,
  I can understand what you're thinking of.
  I can see the pain that you're frightened of.

  And I'm only here
  To bring you free love.
  Let's make it clear
  That this is free love.

  • "Freelove"

• It's the dark night of my soul
  And temptation's taking hold.
  But through the pain and the suffering,
  Through the heartache and trembling

  I feel loved.
  I feel loved.

  • "I Feel Loved"

• Here, somewhere in the heart of me,
  There is still a part of me
  That cares.
  And I'll, I'll still take the best you've got,
  Even though I'm sure it's not
  The best for me.

  When you're born a lover,
  Born to suffer
  Like all soul sisters
  And soul brothers.

  • "Goodnight Lovers"

Playing the Angel (2005)

• All this running around, well, it's getting me down.
  Just give me a pain that I'm used to.
  I don't need to believe all the dreams you conceive,
  You just need to achieve something that rings true.
  • "A Pain That I'm Used To"

• Seven lies, multiplied by seven
  Multiplied by seven again.
  Seven angels with seven trumpets,
  Send them home on the morning train.
  Well, who's that shouting? John the Revelator!
  All he ever gives us is pain.
  Well, who's that shouting? John the Revelator!
  He should bow his head in shame.
  • "John the Revelator"

• I found treasure not where I thought,
  Peace of mind can't be bought.
  Still, I believe.

  I just hang on, suffer well
  Sometimes it's hard, it's hard to tell.

  • "Suffer Well", written by Dave Gahan, Christian Eigner, Andrew Phillpott

• Precious and fragile things
  Need special handling.
  My God, what have we done to you?
  We always tried to share
  The tenderest of care,
  Now look what we have put you through.

  Things get damaged, things get broken.
  I thought we'd manage.
  But words left unspoken left us so brittle,
  There was so little left to give.

  • "Precious"

• Pain and misery always hit the spot,
  Knowing you can't lose what you haven't got.
  • "Lilian"

Sounds of the Universe (2009)

• And words can leave you broken inside.
  You'll have to decide, I'm hanging on to my pride.

  We are here, we can love.
  We share something.
  I'm sure that you mean the world to me
  When you get what you need.
  There's no way of knowing
  What you'll have is another hole to feed.

  • "Hole to Feed", written by Dave Gahan, Christian Eigner, Andrew Phillpott

• There's something wrong with me chemically,
  Something wrong with me inherently.
  The wrong mix in the wrong genes,
  I reached the wrong ends by the wrong means.
  It was the wrong plan in the wrong hands,
  With the wrong theory for the wrong man.
  The wrong eyes on the wrong prize,
  The wrong questions with the wrong replies.
  • "Wrong"

• There's a fragile tension
  That's keeping us going.
  It may not last forever,
  But oh well it's blowing.

  There's something magical in the air,
  Something so tragic we had to care.

  • "Fragile Tension"

• I'm leaving bitterness behind,
  This time I'm cleaning out my mind.
  There is no space for the regrets
  I will remember to forget.
  • "Peace"

Delta Machine (2013)

• Sometimes I slide away,
  Silently.
  I slowly lose myself,
  Over and over.
  Take comfort in my skin,
  Endlessly.
  Surrender to my will,
  Forever and ever.

  I dissolve in trust,
  I will sing with joy,
  I will end up dust.
  I'm in heaven.

  • "Heaven"

• You should be higher.
  I'll take you higher.
  So don't be afraid,
  You'll just have to pray.
  Your lies are more attractive
  Than the truth.
  Love is all I want.
  Your lies are written down
  In your book.
  Love is all I want.
  • "Should Be Higher", written by Dave Gahan, Kurt Uenala

• I'm coming for you
  When the sun goes down.
  I'm coming for you
  When there's no one around.
  • "Soothe My Soul"

Spirit (2017)

• We are not there yet,
  We have not evolved.
  We have no respect,
  We have lost control.
  We're going backwards,
  Ignoring the realities.
  Going backwards,
  Are you counting all the casualties?
  • "Going Backwards"

• You've been kept down,
  You've been pushed 'round.
  You've been lied to,
  You've been fed truths.
  Who's making your decisions?
  You or your religion?
  Your government, your countries?
  You patriotic junkies.

  Where's the revolution?
  Come on, people
  You're letting me down.

  • "Where's the Revolution"

• Way up here with the Northern lights,
  Beyond you and me.
  I dreamt of us in another life,
  One we've never reached.

  You know we're sinking,
  We could fade away.
  I'm not going down,
  Not today.
  The air is so cold here,
  Too cold to see.
  We have to take cover.
  Cover me.

  • "Cover Me", written by Dave Gahan, Peter Gordeno, Christian Eigner

External links

• Official website