Depeche Mode

Released: October 5, 1981

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore

Producer: Depeche Mode Daniel Miller

[Verse 1]
They were raining from the sky
Exploding in my heart
Is this a love in disguise
Or just a form of modern art?

[Chorus]
From the skies you could almost hear them cry
"Tora! Tora! Tora!"
In the town, they were going down
"Tora! Tora! Tora!"

[Verse 2]
I had a nightmare only yesterday
You played a skeleton
You took my love then died that day
I played an American

[Chorus]
From the skies you could almost hear them cry
"Tora! Tora! Tora!"
In the town, they were going down
"Tora! Tora! Tora!"

[Interlude]

[Outro]
I played an American (I played an American)
I played an American (I played an American)
I played an American (I played an American)
I played an American (I played an American)
I played an American (An American)
I played an American (An American)
I played an American
I played an American (An American)

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

Speak & Spell

From the album

Speak & Spell (1981)

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