Ramblings of a retiree in France
What do I have in my archives in response to Jim Adams’ prompt for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday Challenge which is Hop/Jump/Leap/ Pounce/Spring? I know, what about Heaven by Depeche Mode, an English electronic music band formed in Basildon in 1980 consisting of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting) and Andy Fletcher (keyboards).
Depeche Mode released their debut album, Speak & Spell, in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene. The band’s last albums of the 1980s, Black Celebration and Music for the Masses, established them as a dominant force within the electronic music scene.
In early 1990, they released Violator, an international mainstream success. The following album Songs of Faith and Devotion, released in 1993, was also a success, though the band’s internal struggles during recording and touring resulted in Wilder’s departure in 1995.
Depeche Mode have had 54 songs in the UK Singles Chart and 17 Top 10 albums in the UK chart; they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. They were were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
Heaven was released in early 2013 bas the lead single from the band’s 13th studio album, Delta Machine (2013) and their 50th UK single. Gahan said that it was released as a digital download worldwide on iTunes and Amazon because:
Being an electronic band, primarily, you can really experiment a lot and the songs take on different arrangements, tempos, feels, before we find something. The song we found to drive this record was the single ‘Heaven’. It was like a shot in the arm. I was like, ‘Ahh, I can’t wait to sing that song.
Written by Martin L. Gore and produced by Ben Hillier. In June 2013, the single was certified gold by the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana, denoting downloads exceeding 15,000 units in Italy. In the UK, by contrast, the single reached #60, the first initial single from a Depeche Mode album to fail to reach the UK Top 40.
The music video sees Depeche Mode performing the track, while a tree and a masked couple appear before them. The clip was directed by Timothy Saccenti and shot at The Marigny Opera House, a former Catholic Church in the Faubourg Marigny in New Orleans in November 2012. The video’s look was inspired by Terence Malick’s 2011 film The Tree of Life.
Remember them well 😊
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😎
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Being a Stones fan I would choose Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
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Of course you would, but The Stones are not in my archive
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