Religion, faith, higher love, mercy, condemnation, sinners, sisters of night, judases. Martin Gore´s depicting in his songs what it means to cross the line, the limits, embracing instinct or surrendering to love, whether this love is sinful or unique. In his earlier compositions, long before Songs of Faith and Devotion, Martin focused on people´s newfound interest in personalized religions, the "flesh and bone by the telephone", making understanding and forgiveness accessible, a reflection of those times.
Again, the official video is very good but, when I´m down in the dumps or I want to dance and smile, smile and dance, I go back to this amazing version of PersonalJesus, with Dave´s energy and sense of fun, Martin´s unusual trousers with legs joined by a strap, Fletch´s good looks and those amazing women in the choir. It´s a very powerful rendering by DM. Highly recommended.
Many years have gone by since the release of Songs of Faith and Devotion and Depeche Mode never fails to include Walking In My Shoesin their tour track list. It is one of their best songs and one that singer Dave Gahan identifies with. In the video that accompanies the CD of Songs ..., Alan Wilder remembers the time when they were going to record the song. It was thought Martin Gore was going to sing it but Dave requested to be the one to interpret it with Martin in back vocals. The original video of Walking ... is one of Anton Corbijn´s masterpieces.
It is always exciting to hear the starting notes on the keyboard in a DM concert but it´s also a pleasure to listen to the song in a studio rehearsal.
Enjoy ...
What I have enjoyed most about this video is to try to guess why Dave Gahan starts the rehearsal with his scarf on, but at different moments of the shoot his scarf magically disappears from his neck. Either the scarf had a vanishing quality or Dave was suffering from hot flushes (?), or there was more than one rehearsal of this song and scenes from two shots were edited. It was so much fun to watch.
To celebrate 21 years of the release of Violator I want to take a new look at the original video of Policy of Truth, one of the majestic songs of the album. Interesting story of love and deceit involving the original four members of the band.
In January 2011 I headed for San Antonio de Areco, a town in the northwest of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, accompanied by a dear friend from the United Sates who also loves the band and their music. We had a great time, this being our first visit to this unique country place.
One morning we were doing some shopping and chanced to visit a general goods store. My friend and I took separate ways to have a look at different stands. After some time, I found him looking for some specific items with a smile on his face. He let me know there was a guy in the store wearing a Depeche Mode sweatshirt. He even guided me in the direction of the young man, who happened to be one of the shop assistants.
He proclaimed to be the only DM fan in Areco. We got into talking and I was pleased to find out that we had both been at all DM venues in Buenos Aires. Velez Sarsfield DM´s first concert back in 1992, Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires in 2010 and Alan Wilder´s concert at Niceto Club. We shared some wonderful memories and the thrill of having been at all these amazing concerts without even knowing each other.
I would very much like to know if he is really the only fan in Areco. Maybe I will know ... some day.
