Depeche Mode

Released: March 19, 1990

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore

Producer: Depeche Mode Flood

[Chorus]
Clean, the cleanest I've been
An end to the tears and the in-between years
And the troubles I've seen
Now that I'm clean, you know what I mean
I've broken my fall, put an end to it all
I've changed my routine now I'm clean

[Verse 1]
I don't understand what destiny's planned
I'm starting to grasp what is in my own hands
I don't claim to know where my holiness goes
I just know that I like what is starting to show
Sometimes

[Chorus]
Clean, the cleanest I've been
An end to the tears and the in-between years
And the troubles I've seen
Now that I'm clean, you know what I mean
I've broken my fall, put an end to it all
I've changed my routine now I'm clean

[Verse 2]
As years go by all the feelings inside
Twist and they turn as they ride with the tide
I don't advise and I don't criticise
I just know what I like with my own eyes
Sometimes

[Interlude]

[Chorus]
Clean, the cleanest I've been
An end to the tears and the in-between years
And the troubles I've seen
Now that I'm clean

[Outro]
Sometimes
You know what I mean
I've broken my fall, put an end to it all
I've changed my routine now I'm clean
Sometimes
Now I'm clean
(The cleanest I've been)
The cleanest I've been

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

Violator

From the album

Violator (1990)

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Violator