Monday 20 March 2023

Broken Meanings

Depeche Mode returned earlier this month with a new single, Ghosts Again, as a precursor to fifteenth album, Memento Mori. It's the first single and album as a duo of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, following the passing of founder member Andy Fletcher last year. There's much to be read into the single's - and album title's - meaning, although work on the album had begun in 2020/21 and, at the the time of his death, without any material contribution at that point from Fletch.
 
Given their penchant for the morbid (my school friend used to refer to them as Depress Mode), Ghosts Again is a surprisingly upbeat single, despite the melancholy melody and reflective lyrics. Also a surprise is the fact that Martin Gore, who has written the majority of Depeche Mode's songs solo, has collaborated on this and several other songs on Momento Mori with Richard Butler, frontperson with The Psychedelic Furs. As soon as I knew this, Ghosts Again made more sense and I could begin to draw parallels with the lyrical shape and feel of The Furs' excellent 2020 'comeback' album, Made Of Rain.

No physical release or official remixes in the UK as yet, although some bootleg remixes and a German 7" featuring the recently resurrected 1987 single Never Let Me Down Again on the B-side have emerged. An upcoming release will reportedly feature a cover version of Sundown, written by Gordon Lightfoot and popularised by Scott Walker on 1974 album We Had It All. Both versions are excellent and easy to imagine appealing to Martin and Dave. Not to be confused with Sundown by S Club 8, who I didn't even realise existed until trawling YouTube for the Lightfoot and Walker versions (links above). Although the masochist in me would have liked Depeche Mode to have had a crack at this one, too.
 
Here's a TV performance of Ghosts Again, the pair conveying the hard won experience of their six decades on this planet, but with a youthful energy and optimism that is captivating.
 
 
 
 
Wasted feelingsBroken meaningsTime is fleetingSee what it brings 

Hellos, goodbyes, a thousand midnightsLost in sleepless lullabies
 
Heaven's dreamingThoughtless thoughts, my friendsWe know we'll be ghosts again
 
Sundays shiningSilver liningsWeightless hoursAll my flowers
 
A place to hide the tears that you criedEverybody says goodbye
 
Faith is sleepingLovers in the endWhisper we'll be ghosts again
 
Heaven's dreamingThoughtless thoughts, my friendsWe know we'll be ghosts again
 
Faith is sleepingLovers in the endWhisper we'll be ghosts again
 

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for this Khayem. I've never been a big Depeche Mode fan but if Butler Rep (as I still think of him) is involved then I will check it out. And I'm intrigued by the idea of them covering the Great Gord.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ernie. I've listened to Ghosts Again several times and it's easy to imagine the song appearing on the last Furs album. I can hear Butler Rep singing the lyrics, which are so very him.

      Delete
  2. Like Ernie I've never been the biggest fan of The Mode, though I did enjoy this song and am intrigued to hear more from the Richard Butler collaboration.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been largely indifferent to their albums in the late 1990s and 2000s, but on this strength of this single - and further Richard Butler collaborations on the album - I'm going to take a punt on Momento Mori, I think.

      Delete
  3. The last two DM albums were difficult to listen to, and from what I understand, fairly difficult to make. Momento Mori seems like it may have been necessary for Martin and Dave to make. Ghosts Again takes many cues from their early, and for me, imperial period, pre US arenas and Dave feeling it was ok to take his shirt off in videos and photos shoots. There's a good deal of anguish and other assorted pathos on display, but it is a wonderful tribute to Fletch and all DM have been through.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wonderfully put, Echorich. There's been a lot said about how the single and album's themes seems prescient given Fletch's subsequent passing, but it's a natural focus for a band (and partnership) that has survived many decades and personal trials and tribulations. The influence of Richard Butler is felt keenly in the lyrics though Dave Gahan's on-point vocals make it a Depeche Mode song, through and through. Looking forward to the album.

      Delete