Depeche Mode

Released: February 3, 1997

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore

Producer: Tim Simenon

[Verse 1: Dave Gahan]
Do you mean this horny creep
Set upon weary feet
Who looks in need of sleep
That doesn't come?

[Verse 2: Dave Gahan]
This twisted, tortured mess
This bed of sinfulness
Who’s longing for some rest
And feeling numb

[Pre-Chorus 1: Dave Gahan]
What do you expect of me?
What is it you want?
Whatever you've planned for me
I'm not the one

[Interlude]

[Verse 3: Dave Gahan]
A vicious appetite
Visits me each night
And won’t be satisfied
Won't be denied

[Verse 4: Dave Gahan]
An unbearable pain
A beating in my brain
That leaves the mark of Cain
Right here inside

[Pre-Chorus 2: Dave Gahan]
What am I supposed to do
When everything that I've done
Is leading me to conclude
I'm not the one?

[Chorus: Dave Gahan (Martin L. Gore)]
Whatever I've done
I've been staring down the barrel of a gun
Whatever I've done
I've been staring down the barrel of a gun
Whatever I’ve done (Whatever, whatever)

[Pre-Chorus: Dave Gahan]
Is there something you need from me?
Are you having your fun?
I never agreed to be
Your holy one

[Chorus: Dave Gahan (Martin L. Gore)]
Whatever I’ve done
I've been staring down the barrel of a gun
Whatever I’ve done (Whatever, whatever)
I've been staring down the barrel of a gun
Whatever I've done (Whatever, whatever)
I've been staring down the barrel of a gun

Depeche Mode are recognized as one of the most artistically influential bands of the late 20th century. Commercially, they have released 14 studio albums to date, and sold more than 100 million records. Their most recent album, Spirit, hit the streets in March 2017.

The band got their start in Basildon, Essex in 1980, and named themselves after a French fashion magazine. They rose to fame with hits that have become “Just Can’t Get Enough” (1981), “Everything Counts” (1983), and “People Are People” (1984), to name a few. One of their most famous concerts was at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in 1988.

Martin Gore has been the band’s primary songwriter since Vince Clarke left in the early 1980s (and went on to form Yazoo and Erasure). Alan Wilder replaced Clarke on keyboards in 1982, but left in 1995 (reinvesting his creative energy in his band, Recoil, which he had started in 1986). Since then, the band has comprised frontman Dave Gahan, multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore, and keyboardist Andy Fletcher—all of whom are original members.

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Barrel of a Gun

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Barrel of a Gun