The band has been highly influential in the electronic dance music scene, especially synthpop, techno, and trance, partly due to their innovative work, recording techniques, and use of sampling. Their most successful album is arguably 1990's Violator, which reached the #2 position in the UK, #7 in the US, and sold over 8 million copies worldwide. The band has released a long series of high-charting singles over their three-decades long career. Enjoy the Silence is their most recognized song and one of history's most covered songs.
The original line-up was Dave Gahan, Martin L. Gore, Andy Fletcher, and Vince Clarke. In December 1981, Clarke left the band and later formed Yazoo, The Assembly, and Erasure. Alan Wilder joined the group initially in January 1982 as a live keyboardist but became an official member in December 1982. He left in mid-1995 to fully concentrate on his Recoil project, and the band continued as a trio. In 2010 Wilder re-joined Depeche Mode on stage after 16 years for a performance of Somebody during a show at London's Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Depeche Mode's origins date back to 1977, when Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher formed a band called No Romance in China, with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass. In March 1980, Clarke, Gore, and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar, Gore on keyboards, and Fletcher on bass. Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke, and Fletcher switched to synthesizers. Dave Gahan joined the band in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local scout hut jam session, singing to a rendition of David Bowie's "Heroes" and Depeche Mode was born.
While playing a live gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town, Daniel Miller, the founder of Mute Records, approached the band, who proposed a verbal contract. The result was their first single, Dreaming of Me, recorded in December 1980 and released in February 1981, reaching number 57 in the UK charts and followed soon by a real contract with Mute.
To date, Depeche Mode have released:
15 studio albums: Speak & Spell (1981), A Broken Frame (1982), Construction Time Again (1983), Some Great Reward (1984), Black Celebration (1986), Music For the Masses (1987), Violator (1990), Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993), Ultra (1997), Exciter (2001), Playing the Angel (2005), Sounds of the Universe (2009), Delta Machine (2013), Spirit (2017), and Memento Mori (2023);
8 compilations: People Are People (1984), The Singles 81-85 (1985), Catching Up with Depeche Mode (1985), Greatest Hits (1987), The Singles 86>98 (1998), Remixes 81-04 (2004), The Best Of Depeche Mode Volume 1 (2006), The Complete Depeche Mode (2006);
5 live albums: 101 (1989), Songs of Faith and Devotion Live (1993), Recording the Angel (a series of live recordings; 2006), Tour Of The Universe: Barcelona 20/21:11:09 (2009) and Live In Berlin (Soundtrack) (2014) ;
Over 50 singles: including Just Can't Get Enough, Everything Counts, People Are People, Master and Servant, Shake the Disease, Stripped, A Question of Time, Strangelove, Never Let Me Down Again, Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence, World in My Eyes, Policy of Truth, I Feel You, Walking in My Shoes, In Your Room, Barrel of a Gun, It's No Good, Home, Dream On, Freelove, Precious, Wrong and Heaven ;
14 live / video collections (VHS/DVD/Blu-ray): The World We Live In and Live in Hamburg (1985), Some Great Videos (1985), Strange (1988), 101 (1989), Strange Too (1990), Devotional (1993), The Videos 86>98 (1998), One Night in Paris (2002), The Videos 86>98 (2002), Touring the Angel: Live in Milan (2006), The Best of - Volume 1 (2006), Tour of the Universe : Barcelona 20/21.11.09 (2009), Live in Berlin (2014) and Video Singles Collection (2016)
Dreaming of Me
Depeche Mode Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Film was broken only then
All the night, fused tomorrow
Dancing with a distant friend
Filming and screening
I picture the scene
Filming and dreaming
So we left, understanding
Clean cut so we're sounding fast
Talked of sad, I talked of war
I laughed and climbed the rising cast
Filming and screening
I picture the scene
Filming and dreaming
Dreaming of me, yeah
Quickly I remembered
Fused and saw a face before
Timing reason, understanding
Like association hall
Filming and screening
I picture the scene
Filming and dreaming
Dreaming of me, yeah
Dreaming of me
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
Just dreaming of me
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
It's only me
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
Just me
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, la, la, la
Ooh, ah
The lyrics of Dreaming of Me by Depeche Mode are about remembering a past love and the act of creating a film. The first stanza is about turning the light switch on and off while the film is being made. The film, however, was broken while they were shooting, so they have to wait for tomorrow to continue filming. The singer then dances with a faraway or distant friend. The second stanza talks about how they understand each other and how they sound good together. They talk about sadness and war, but the singer laughs it off and continues with the filming. The third stanza talks about how the singer remembers a face and understands the timing, like a meeting in an association room. The chorus repeats the phrase "Dreaming of me" while adding "It's only me" and "Just me," emphasizing the idea that the singer is alone and missing their past love.
The verses of the song have a sense of melancholy and isolation, which can be interpreted as the memories of a lost love. The music adds to the mood, using synthesizers and a drum machine to create a sense of detachment. The lyrics are also somewhat cryptic, leaving the listener to interpret the meaning for themselves.
Line by Line Meaning
Light switch, man switch
Turning on a light switch, I switch my consciousness to my dreamscape
Film was broken only then
I only realized that the life captured by the camera was elusive and unreliable in hindsight
All the night, fused tomorrow
I continuously imagine my future and bring it to today’s world
Dancing with a distant friend
I’m lost in my thought but also feeling lonely while visualizing a friend I’m separated from
Filming and screening
Recall a vivid memory and browsing through that reel in your mind
I picture the scene
The playback starts and I’m seeing myself in my dream
Filming and dreaming
Thinking about happening events and building scenarios as I’m in my dreamscape
Dreaming of me, yeah
My imagination intensifies as I’m thinking about myself in the circumstances I’m visualizing
So we left, understanding
We depart with a mutual realization of our thought process
Clean cut so we're sounding fast
We have a cohesive, fast-paced communication and understanding
Talked of sad, I talked of war
Conversations about sadness and war were had
I laughed and climbed the rising cast
I laughed and became more optimistic as the conversation moved forward
Quickly I remembered
In a moment I became aware of a memory
Fused and saw a face before
I remember a face I've seen before
Timing reason, understanding
I reason with the timing of certain events to understand circumstances better
Like association hall
These thoughts are coming to me one after the other as if I'm sitting in a hall of associations
Dreaming of me
Again, my imaginative abilities continue to grow
It's only me
All of these thoughts are about me alone
Just me
Continuing alone in my thought after departing with others
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Vince Clarke
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind