Depeche Mode

Released: April 14, 1986

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore

[Verse 1: Dave Gahan]
Do you ever get that feeling when the guilt begins to hurt?
Seeing all the children wallowing in dirt
Crying out with hunger, crying out in pain
At least the dirt will wash off when it starts to rain

[Pre-Chorus: Martin L. Gore]
Soap won't wash away your shame

[Interlude]

[Verse 2: Dave Gahan]
Do you ever get the feeling that something isn't right?
Seeing your brother's fists clenched ready for the fight
Soon the fighting turns to weapons and the weapons turn to wounds
So the doctors stitch and stitch and stitch and stitch and stitch and stitch and stitch

[Pre-Chorus: Martin L. Gore]
Surgery won't improve your pain

[Interlude]

[Chorus: Dave Gahan]
It all seems so stupid
It makes me want to give up
But why should I give up
When it all seems so stupid?

[Interlude]

[Verse 3: Dave Gahan]
Do you ever get the feeling that something can be done
To eradicate these problems and make the people one?
Do you ever get that feeling, something like a nagging itch?
And all the while the doctors stitch and stitch and stitch and stitch and stitch

[Pre-Chorus: Martin L. Gore (& Dave Gahan)]
Hope alone won't remove the stains (Shame)

[Chorus: Dave Gahan]
It all seems so stupid
It makes me want to give up
But why should I give up
When it all seems so stupid?

[Outro: Dave Gahan]
"Let's go!"
"Yeah!"
"Thank you"

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

X¹ + X² (1991)
Rare Early Live Performances (2006)

Depeche Mode popular songs

Shame [Live in Basel, St. Jakobshalle, Switzerland - 1984/11/30]Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode

X¹ + X²