Depeche Mode

Released: March 13, 1989

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore

Producer: Depeche Mode

[Intro]
Master and servant

[Verse 1]
There's a new game we like to play, you see
A game with added reality
You treat me like a dog, get me down on my knees

[Chorus]
We call it master and servant
We call it master and servant

[Verse 2]
It's a lot like life, this play between the sheets
With you on top and me underneath
Forget all about equality

[Chorus]
Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant

[Refrain]
It's a lot like life and that's what's appealing
If you despise that throwaway feeling
From disposable fun
Then this is the one

[Verse 3]
Domination's the name of the game
In bed or in life, they're both just the same
Except in one you're fulfilled at the end of the day

[Chorus]
Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant

[Bridge]
Come on, yeah
Come on, yeah
Master and servant
It's a lot, it's a lot
It's a lot, it's a lot
It's a lot, it's a lot
It's a lot like life
It's a lot, it's a lot
It's a lot, it's a lot
It's a lot, it's a lot
Master and servant
It's a lot, it's a lot
It's a lot, it's a lot
It's a lot, it's a lot
It's a lot like life

[Refrain]
It's a lot like life and that's what's appealing
If you despise that throwaway feeling
From disposable fun
Then this is the one

[Chorus]
Let's play master and servant (Come on)
Come on, master and servant (Come on)
Let's play master and servant (Come on)
Come on, master and servant (Come on)
Let's play master and servant (Come on)
Come on, master and servant (Come on)

[Outro]
Master, master, master, master
Master, master, master, master
Master, master, master and servant
"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

X¹ + X²

From the albums

101 (1989)
X¹ + X² (1991)

Depeche Mode popular songs

Master and Servant (Live) [Rose Bowl 18/06/88]Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode

X¹ + X²