Pulling Punches with Depeche Mode

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Inspired by Replacing "She" with "He" Etc. in a song - C/D
I felt that depeche fans and haters alike needed a place to get some frustrations off of theirs chests. This thread is dedicated to pointing out horrible lyrical blunders committed by one of the biggest synthpop bands in history. Don't feel the need to restrict yourself to lazy rhymes (although youd be hard pressed to find anything other than lazy rhymes in most DM songs). ill start it off with the most memorable of all:
"promises me i'm safe as houses, as long as i remember who's wearing the trousers"
when i first heard this line, i had never heard of the phrase "safe as houses" so it sounded even worse to my american teenage ears. being british doesn't excuse you from using the word "trousers" so shamelessly either. yuck

― Felcher (Felcher), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Depeche has bad lyrics? Never noticed.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I've never really had a problem with Depeche lyrics, myself.

― Xii (Xii), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I love 'em.

Cor blimey.

― scottjames23 (worrysome-man), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Goofy lyrics are a problem?

― Nicolars (Nicole), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:30 (twenty-two years ago)

i love 'em too scott
and nicolars, i can understand that in a lot of DM songs, the goofy lyrics may add to the brilliance, but when you've got a beautiful piano ballad like "sometimes" going, no matter how sincere the intention, lines like "someone who'll stand by my side, and give me support, and in return, she'll get my support" can only ruin the mood for me. maybe the bare sentimentality of it enhances the meaning of the song to some people, but damn, it just feels like lazy editing to me (that said, when i was 15, i loved the lyrics to said song, but i also loved NIN's hole-in-my-soul variety of lyrics at the time)

― Felcher (Felcher), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Goofy lyrics are a problem?

Exactly. You'd have to steamroll over Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones, to name two.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:38 (twenty-two years ago)

which i'm more than happy to do. although im coming around on the rolling stones front.

― Felcher (Felcher), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:42 (twenty-two years ago)

lines like "someone who'll stand by my side, and give me support, and in return, she'll get my support" can only ruin the mood for me. maybe the bare sentimentality of it enhances the meaning of the song to some people, but damn, it just feels like lazy editing to me

Yeah, but you should remember Sometimes was written in 1986 (85?): at that point DM was all about the heartstrings. How else could they get away with A Question of Lust? That said, I couldn't like Everything Counts for its twee lyrics, either.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:44 (twenty-two years ago)

of course, the intent of this thread isnt really to hate on the mode, it's for us to revel in the goofiness of some of their lines, which have been a source of a lot amusement for me throughout the years.

― Felcher (Felcher), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:44 (twenty-two years ago)

"Words are very unnecessary."

― Douglas (Douglas), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:46 (twenty-two years ago)

The turning point...of a career in Korea being insincere....

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:48 (twenty-two years ago)

People are people
So why should it be?
That you and I should get along..
so aww fulll eeeeeee!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 30 October 2003 22:49 (twenty-two years ago)

My point, dammit. I love DM to death, but lyrics like that just give me the shudders

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 30 October 2003 23:05 (twenty-two years ago)

"From the notes that I've made so far
Love seems something like wanting a scar"

"Anything passes when you need glasses"

― kickitcricket, Thursday, 30 October 2003 23:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll tell you this much -- there was a dude in line in front of me at the cafeteria in this big Sony building here in L.A. with a Dave Gahan tour t-shirt on, that said -- I swear to God --

"GIRLS GAHAN WILD!"

-- across the front in enormous letters. On the back were the tour dates, including his stop at Jimmy Kimmel Live.

― Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Thursday, 30 October 2003 23:59 (twenty-two years ago)

You could blame the weird lyrics on Martin Gore's experiments with peroxide, but honestly... who cares, really?

And me wanna one of those "GIRLS GAHAN WILD!" tees.

― Miggie (Miggie), Friday, 31 October 2003 04:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I will always love DM no matter how silly their lyrics are. To me it's the combination of the sound of the electronics, and the songs themselves. The themes behind the lyrics are good, and in most cases I think they are decent, especially since Gore wasn't the songwriter when they started out (some of Vince's lyrics off Speak & Spell are OK). You can probably find good and bad lyrics from almost any artist anyway.

Everybody's looking for a new sensation
Everybody's talking about the state of the nation

I have often wondered if this was a dig at INXS and New Order...

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Friday, 31 October 2003 10:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I've just decided I REALLY want to hear "Shake the Disease" right now...

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Friday, 31 October 2003 10:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Now I'm on a roll.. I always remember being annoyed by the lyrics of "It Doesn't Matter" (the first one, off SGR, not 2 off of BC).

I will thank you
Most of all for
The respect you have for me
I'm embarrassed
It overwhelms me
Because I don't deserve any

The way he rhymed "for me" with "a-ny" bugged me. Still love the song though.

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Friday, 31 October 2003 10:43 (twenty-two years ago)

when i first heard this line, i had never heard of the phrase "safe as houses" so it sounded even worse to my american teenage ears. being british doesn't excuse you from using the word "trousers" so shamelessly either. yuck

obviously you've never heard the phrase "who wears the trousers in your relationship" i.e. - if your missus is wearing the proverbial trousers, she is the proactive one in your relationship - see? I guess this would sound a bit quaint to american ears.

― dog latin (dog latin), Friday, 31 October 2003 11:07 (twenty-two years ago)

The trousers issue comes down to an experience I had a couple months ago when an English friend of mine cam in town. As an American I refer to my leg coverings as "pants", but to him the word "pants" means "underpants" or "underwear". He calls pants "trousers", which just sounds outdated.

So yeah anyway in the US the person wears the pants, not the trousers which is probably why it sounds even sillier to Felcher.

― Mike Salmo (salmo), Friday, 31 October 2003 18:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Kicking off this thread one of the most brilliant lines of their career was probably not the move.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 31 October 2003 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

why do you consider it one of the most brilliant lines of their career? to me, regardless of the meaning behind the line (which is actually pretty clearly conveyed) Martin had to know how forced and silly this sounded, especially in the context of such an anthemic song with deadpan vocals. unless they were going for comedy, of course. excusing the poor crossover of "trousers", it's still like writing "give another song and dance, just remember, i wear the pants" which might work wonderfully in something vaudevillian, but when your goth flair is really shining (or dimming) through, it's just comical.

― Felcher (Felcher), Friday, 31 October 2003 19:58 (twenty-two years ago)

It's brilliant partially because of the deadpan delivery but mostly because of the way it scans with the music. It also comes across as a MUCH more threatening statement than the way you're painting.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 31 October 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

This is a thread for Depeche Mode haters? Guess I better get lost then...

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 1 November 2003 19:11 (twenty-two years ago)

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