Depeche Mode

Released: July 11, 1983

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore

Producer: Depeche Mode

[Intro]
"Okay, this is 'The Meaning of Love'."

[Verse 1]
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

[Chorus]
The meaning of love
The meaning of love

[Verse 2]
Noted down all my observations
Spent an evening watching television
Still, I couldn't say with precision
Know it's a feeling and it comes from above
But what's the meaning, the meaning of love?

[Chorus]
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love

[Post-Chorus]
From the notes that I've made so far
Love seems something like wanting a scar
Well I could be wrong
I'm just not sure, you see
I've never been in love before

[Verse 3]
Next, I asked several friends of mine
If they could spare a few minutes of their time
Their looks suggested that I'd lost my mind
Tell me the answer, my Lord high above
Tell me the meaning, the meaning of love

[Chorus]
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love

[Post-Chorus]
From the notes that I've made so far
Love seems something like wanting a scar
Well I could be wrong
I'm just not sure, you see
I've never been in love before

[Chorus]
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love (Tell me)
The meaning of love

[Outro]
"Thank you. Thank you very much."

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.

more tracks from the album

Rare Early Live Performances

From the album

Rare Early Live Performances (2006)

Depeche Mode popular songs

The Meaning of Love (Live) [Hammersmith Odeon 25/10/82]Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode

Rare Early Live Performances