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)
Higher Love
Depeche Mode Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This burning inside is so real
I can almost lay my hands upon
The warm glow that lingers on
Moved, lifted higher
Moved, my soul's on fire
Moved, by a higher love
I surrender all control
To the desire that consumes me whole
Leads me by the hand to infinity
Lies in wait at the heart of me
Moved, lifted higher
Moved, my soul's on fire
Moved, by a higher love
By a higher love
Heaven bound on the wings of love
There's so much that you can rise above
Moved, lifted higher
Moved, moved by a higher love
By a higher love
I surrender heart and soul
Sacrificed to a higher goal
Moved, moved by a higher love
By a higher love
By a higher love
By a higher love
By a higher love
By a higher love
By a higher love
By a higher love
Higher love
Higher love
The lyrics to Depeche Mode's "Higher Love" convey a sense of spiritual ecstasy and surrender to a higher power. The singer describes a burning sensation inside that is both intense and real, almost tangible. The warmth that lingers on suggests that this higher love is something that lingers beyond the moment of its initial experience. The singer is moved and lifted higher, as if his soul is on fire. The desire that consumes him is not something he fights or seeks to control, but instead surrenders to completely, allowing it to lead him towards infinity. This higher love is not something concrete or definable, but an elusive feeling that lies in wait at the heart of the singer.
The second verse of the song continues this theme, as the singer surrenders all control to the desire that leads him by the hand to infinity. It suggests that this higher love is not something that can be grasped or understood through reason, but is instead an emotional or spiritual force that the singer is compelled to follow. The lyric "heaven bound on the wings of love" suggests that this higher love is something that is transcendent and able to lift us above our earthly concerns. The chorus repeats the idea that the singer is moved and lifted higher by this higher love, until the final repetition of the phrase "higher love" implies a culmination or climax of this experience.
Line by Line Meaning
I can taste more than feel
The feeling is so intense that it is almost tangible
This burning inside is so real
The passion being felt is genuine and overpowering
I can almost lay my hands upon
The sensation is so vivid that it can be physically experienced
The warm glow that lingers on
The emotion persists and continues to provide comfort
Moved, lifted higher
The sensations being experienced are elevating one's being
Moved, my soul's on fire
The intensity of the feeling is overwhelming one's soul
Moved, by a higher love
The emotion is coming from a place beyond the physical realm
I surrender all control
The individual is willingly giving up their power to the emotion
To the desire that consumes me whole
The passion is taking over one's entire being
Leads me by the hand to infinity
The emotion is guiding one to a limitless and boundless state
Lies in wait at the heart of me
The emotion is deeply rooted within the individual
Heaven bound on the wings of love
The feeling is taking one to a heavenly state
There's so much that you can rise above
This emotion provides the power to overcome and transcend
I surrender heart and soul
The individual is giving themselves completely to the emotion
Sacrificed to a higher goal
The emotion is driving one towards a greater purpose
By a higher love
The passion comes from a divine source
Higher love
The emotion being experienced is beyond the physical realm
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Martin Gore
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@samirafterone
I can taste more than feel
This burning inside is so real
I can almost lay my hands upon
The warm glow that lingers on
Moved, lifted higher
Moved, my soul's on fire
Moved, by a higher love
I surrender all control
To the desire that consumes me whole
And leads me by the hand to infinity
That lies in wait at the heart of me
Moved, lifted higher
Moved, my soul's on fire
Moved, by a higher love
Heaven bound on the wings of love
There's so much that you can rise above
Moved, lifted higher
Moved, moved, by a higher love
By a higher love
I surrender heart and soul
Sacrificed to a higher goal
Moved, moved by a higher love
By a higher love
@emircheg7544
@Dennis :))). Got your point. Yes, agree with your comment.
U2, Metallica, Pink Floyd - totally agree. However, I tend more to synthpop not rock in this case. You know?:).
In my hierarchy:
1. DM;
2. U2;
3. Queen;
4. Metallica.
Pink Floyd does not have a line. I have not listened to them enough to make a notion:). I just know that they are legendary. For me, they are like Lead Zeppelin, for example. But, again, was not so influenced by their music as well.
@vanillacaffelatte
I've discovered it only today! An absolute masterpiece!!! This is not a musical track - it's a transcendental, magical experience.
@andrewma3491
So glad you discovered it! 😃
@vanillacaffelatte
@Andrew Ma me too! ^^
@josemanuelsantos6809
Spot on!
@borismarinov6386
Today? I envy you....
@vanillacaffelatte
@Boris Marinov what is there to envy? I regret not discovering DM earlier...
@hunter74able
One of the greatest albums of all time.
@lori8098
for sure still check it out to this day
@highlander4731
My opinion this album show how DM become masterpiece of the music absolutely fantastic album my best one from DM discography
@dudsulugulugan7639
Without Alan DM cant produce these types of music anymore.