Don't Forget the Songs-365: Mach Tres: Day 86
Tues. April 23, 2013

"Never Let Me Down Again"
Depeche Mode
1987

"♫ Never
want to
put my
feet back
down
on the
ground ♫"

"Never Let Me Down Again" was more than just another single from Music for the Masses. Unbeknownst to most fans, this song was so monumental that it would change the course of Depeche Mode's history. Before "Never Let Me Down Again," Depeche Mode was known primarily as an Electro-Pop/New Wave hits like "Just Can't Get Enough." It wasn't until 1987's Music for the Masses, specifically "Never Let Me Down Again" that Depeche Mode began incorporating a more stadium rock sound which would eventually culminate with the success of 1990's "Personal Jesus" and Violator. Thinking of the band's legacy already lead singer Dave Gahan said this about "Never Let Me Down Again," "Things like Everything Counts and People Are People will last forever. I even bet that in ten years' time there will be bands doing covers of those songs. Our songs always convey an atmosphere: sad or optimistic, it's full of substance. The new single Never Let Me Down Again really gives me goose pimples. Not all our songs have this effect on me, but this particular one is wild. People call DM an electronic band but it's wrong. We use anything, from the acoustic guitar to the percussion via the most sophisticated robots. The only thing we refuse are limitations and I don't think there is a single band in the world that operates like us."

Although my older brother was a fan of "Strangelove," it wasn't till I heard "Never Let Me Down Again," as a teenager, that I became a true devoted Depeche Mode fan. There was something about that opening echoing guitar like riff that leads you into this unknown cryptic world of Martin Gore's lyrics. When asked by Raygun, if fans come up to Martin and ask the meaning behind his songs, Gore coyly replied, "Yeah. There was one instance regarding 'Never Let Me Down Again' when two separate people came up to me after a show one night and said 'I really like that song'. One of them thought it was a gay anthem and the other thought it was a drug anthem. They both loved the song, so that's fine by me."

It's kind of ironic if you think towards the end of "Never Let Me Down Again" Mojo Magazine noticed in their comprehensive "Ultimate Music Companion," the book, The Mojo Collection, "the coy tribute to Soft Cell's Touch in the song's coda." Martin Gore and Alan Wilder's initial homage to Soft Cell, on "Never Let Me Down Again," that signaled a sonic change to the future sound of Depeche Mode. Although, Depeche Mode never completely abandoned their trademark electronic sound, by 1990 the band began incorporating more of a stadium rock sound that would lead them to a place of total commercial world domination with Violator.

Former Depeche Mode instrumentalist and composer Alan Wilder once told The Electricity Club, of his time with the band, "Never Let Me Down Again" was one of his all-time personal music highlights. In 1987, Wilder said this about Music for the Masses second single, "It stood out as an obvious single and suggested a Stripped-like feel. It has a very definite anthemic quality which is especially demonstrated when the song is performed live and the whole audience wave their hands in unison at the end – a Depeche high-point I think. This is one of my favorite Anton films. It has a very definite feel and a mood that compliments the song perfectly." Wilder's right, it wasn't until Depeche Mode began collaborating with Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn that you can see visually that the band had that rock star aura. You can hear it from the anthem like quality, Alan Wilder raved about, all coming together with "Never Let Me Down Again." It was the perfect melding of Martin Gore's lyrical substance and Anton Corbjin's visual style that would bring Depeche Mode's music to the global masses.

"Never Let Me Down Again" was my first leap into the world of Depeche Mode. It was the mystery behind Martin Gore's lyrics was he singing about sex, drugs or both? I realize that you've never truly experienced Music for the Masses most memorable song until you hear "Never Let Me Down Again" behind the wheel. It happened again today, I was reliving the experience, being sixteen again, letting the wind blow thoughts from freedom through my worried mind. As I cranked up the music, singing along, I felt this momentary sense of peace and calmness, maybe my favorite Music for The Masses mantra, more than a pop song, actually lifted my spirits and calmed me in the same breath, exhaling my timeless teenage driving anthem that will always help to—"Never Let Me Down Again."

I can't forget Smashing Pumpkins masterful tribute withe their brilliant cover of "Never Let Me Down Again":