Date: May 13th, 1997, 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: Re: Radio silence?
You just described exactlywhat drives me crazy about the way people hear Depeche Mode.Everyone gets distracted by the synths, the outfits, the leather, the eyeliner.They assume it’s cold or calculated—too clean to hurt, too “electronic” to mean anything.
But if you actually listen?Their lyrics are conflicted, so honest ...they hit you when you least expect it.It’s not polished emotion—it’s restrained desperation.
“Somebody” isn’t romantic.It’s terrifying.
It’s someone asking to be loved without knowing if they deserve it, and hating themselves a little for wanting it anyway.
And don’t even get me started on “Personal Jesus.”
People still act like that song is edgy because it sounds like a synth-blues hybrid.
Like it’s just about sex or blasphemy.That’s not what it’s about.It’s not even about Jesus.It’s about access.About trying to find some kind of salvation in someone else.
Not a god, not a prayer—just a person who sees you.Holds you.Makes you feel real when you don’t believe in anything else.
That song isn’t about power.It’s about needing someone so badly that you mythologize them just to get through it.It’s worship born out of fear.
I could write a whole thesis on how most people miss the point of Depeche Mode entirely.
They’re not background music for smoky clubs.They’re the internal monologue you try to drown out when you’re pretending you’re okay in public.
Anyway.
Glad to know I’m not the only one secretly haunted by them.
If you figure out your song, I’m still listening.
You know what keeps getting to me?
How many bands people think they understand—and they absolutely don’t.
They hear one song on the radio, skim a headline, make a joke about the clothes or the synths or the eyeliner, and that’s it.Whole discographies are written off by people who never really listened.
Depeche Mode is just the start.
There’s a whole graveyard of artists who got misread, mislabeled, or just flat-out ignored.
So now I want to know—what are your five?
The bands you’ll fight for if given the opportunity.The ones people never truly heard, even when they hit the Top 100.Or maybe never heard at all.
ChapterForty-One
Private Message | EchoZone Internal Chat
From: DeadStrings
To: StringTheory27
Date: May 13th, 1997,12:22 PM
Subject: Re: Re: Radio silence?
I hadto think about this.
