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)
Happiest Girl
Depeche Mode Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Happiest girl I ever knew
Wanted to feel the joy
Flow between our lips
Wanted to feel the joy
Flow between our hips
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Happiest girl I ever knew
Happiest girl I ever knew
Wanted to feel the joy
Pass between our eyes
Wanted to feel the joy
Pass between our thighs
Happiest girl I ever knew
Why do you smile the smile you do?
And I would have to pinch her
Just to see if she was real
Just to watch the smile fade away
And see the pain she'd feel
Happiest girl I ever knew
Happiest girl I ever knew
Wanted to feel her joy
Feel it deep within
Wanted to feel her joy
Penetrate my skin
Happiest girl I ever knew
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Why do you smile the smile you do?
The song "Happiest Girl" by Depeche Mode is a melancholic and poignant view of the life of a woman who hides her sadness behind a constant smile. The song is about longing, desire and a sense of emptiness that can't be filled. The lyrics suggest that the singer is in love with this woman but can't quite get through to her or understand why she is always smiling. He wants to share in her joy and feel it deep within himself, but it seems elusive and almost unattainable.
The first verse talks about the singer's desire to feel the joy between their lips and hips, suggesting a sexual attraction, but it could also be a metaphor for a deeper emotional connection. In the second verse, the desire to feel joy passing between their eyes and thighs again suggests that the singer wants to share in the woman's innermost feelings and emotions. The chorus repeats the phrase "Happiest girl I ever knew" questioning why she appears so happy despite the underlying sadness.
The final verse of the song takes a darker turn. The singer admits that he would have to pinch the girl just to see if she was real and to watch the smile fade away while she feels pain. This suggests that the woman may be hiding a deep sadness and using her smile as a façade to mask her true emotions. The repetition of "Why do you smile the smile you do?" in the final lines of the song further emphasizes this sense of confusion and longing.
Overall, "Happiest Girl" is a hauntingly beautiful song that explores the complexities of human emotions and how we may hide our true feelings from others. The lyrics are simple, but they evoke a sense of sadness and melancholy that is hard to shake.
Line by Line Meaning
Happiest girl I ever knew
The subject is the happiest girl the author has ever encountered in their life.
Happiest girl I ever knew
Repetition for emphasis.
Wanted to feel the joy
Flow between our lips
The subject desires to feel happiness through physical intimacy with another person.
Wanted to feel the joy
Flow between our hips
The subject connects sexual pleasure to happiness.
Happiest girl I ever knew
Why do you smile the smile you do?
The author is perplexed as to why the subject is always smiling when it doesn't seem to be a genuine expression of happiness.
Wanted to feel the joy
Pass between our eyes
The subject desires to connect with another person through eye contact.
Wanted to feel the joy
Pass between our thighs
The subject connects sexual pleasure to a deeper emotional connection.
And I would have to pinch her
Just to see if she was real
Just to watch the smile fade away
And see the pain she'd feel
The author is skeptical of the subject's happiness and wants to test its authenticity by causing pain to see how she reacts.
Wanted to feel her joy
Feel it deep within
The author desires to share in the subject's happiness and feel it within themselves.
Wanted to feel her joy
Penetrate my skin
The author desires to absorb the subject's happiness so deeply that it becomes a part of them.
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Repetition for emphasis.
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Repetition for emphasis.
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Repetition for emphasis.
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Repetition for emphasis.
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Repetition for emphasis.
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Repetition for emphasis.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Martin Gore
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@VlrMcC
Happiest girl I ever knew
Happiest girl I ever knew
Wanted to feel the joy
Flow between our lips
Wanted to feel the joy
Flow between our hips
Happiest girl I ever knew
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Happiest girl I ever knew
Happiest girl I ever knew
Wanted to feel the joy
Pass between our eyes
Wanted to feel the joy
Pass between our thighs
Happiest girl I ever knew
Why do you smile the smile you do?
And I would have to pinch her
Just to see if she was real
Just to watch the smile fade away
See the pain she'd feel
Happiest girl I ever knew
Happiest girl I ever knew
Wanted to feel her joy
Feel it deep within
Wanted to feel her joy
Penetrate my skin
Happiest girl I ever knew
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Why do you smile the smile you do?
Why do you smile the smile you do?
@pannikt4615
I just can't get enough of Depeche Mode ! And you, my friends? 🙃
@SaraCatarineSoprano
Neither do I...
@daredevil7523
Never enough
@YepAdam
They thought "happiest girl"is an underrated track for those who don't know the Depeche mode well, but die-hard fans know well that b side has always been one of the best.
@cosmotraumatika7474
The B side is where Depeche Mode innovated and blazed new paths for bands to follow for the next 40 years.
@stuartholden6163
2:17 is what Depeche Mode is known for
@mattbelinski7760
Always one of my favorite parts of a song ever!!!
@silviadiezcrespo8836
YESSSS!!! I think the same.
@matsfrommusic
For sure. Same with Judas.
@DM-Reimagined
💯 this is what made many of their songs stand out