Doing More with Depeche Mode

My sleeping habits haven’t exactly been great and it’s affected my creativity. While I can hammer out several articles a day after a good night’s sleep, I’ve been struggling to complete even a single paragraph lately. Sleep’s always been my Achilles heel and as I’ve gotten older, I find that my slumber requirements still haven’t changed.

So for today’s article, I decided to listen at some inspirational music. And while others may turn to songs like “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, “St. Elmo’s Fire” by John Parr, or “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship, I decided to pull out several old CDs of Depeche Mode.

Before sticking a CD in the player, I took a moment to warn everyone in the house not to be concerned if the foundation starts to shake. With this done, I went back to my room, shut the door, closed all the windows, and set my speakers to kill mode instead of stun. Then I pressed “play.”

[Talk about a rush!]

There is probably nothing is more gratifying than listening to Depeche Mode belt out “People are People” when one is full of negative energy away. For the first few moments, I just sat in a trance-like state, staring at my computer.

When I recovered by the middle of the song, I decided to check the band out on the internet and was surprised to learn that this was the least favorite song of writer Martin Gore, one of the band’s two lead singers. In fact, he disliked it so much that some say that it hasn’t been played live since 1988.

[If that’s true, it’s a pity.]

Having gone through this warm up song, it was time to up the ante with “Master and Servant.” And as the song played, I began to recall how nasty its reputation was back in the 80s. Sure, it is tame compared the some of the songs today, but back then, it was one of those things parents probably warned their kids to stay away from.

It was then followed up by the more upbeat “Just Can’t Get Enough.” And at this point, my fingers began to finally slowly dance over the keyboard.

Then “Everything Counts” comes blasting though the speakers and I was totally back in the 80s. I see myself once again on the dance floors of the Corinthian Garden Clubhouse or the Valle Verde Country Club function rooms. Yet for the life of me, I cannot remember how the heck I ever danced to it. All I recall seeing are batchmates dressed in punk attire as they jumped around and bumped in to each other when the song came on.

I remember looking at them because they were the anti-preppy crowd, the black anti-thesis to a sea of pastel colors, and the Darth Vader to everyone else’s Luke Skywaker. And though they may have been considered extreme during those times, they’re quite tame compared to what people look like now. And just as I was enjoying these few memories, the song came a close.

[Bummer.]

Ah, but the party didn’t have to end as was already knee deep in to the 1980s. So I pulled out the big guns – the extended remixed versions.

[Oh yeah!]

I started off with the ON-USound Science Fiction Dance Hall Classic version of “Master and Servant,” which had a pretty mean left to right effect. And while the remixing of the instruments sounded a bit confusing at times, it was angry enough to scare more of my stress away.

Then I moved on to the Schizo Remix of “Just Can’t Get Enough,” which had me bobbing my head and hopping in my seat as I my fingers began to furiously dance over my keyboard.

And when that was done, I moved on to the Absolute Remix of “Everything Counts.” And I will say, that extended beginning was probably the most wicked version I have ever heard of. It was so good, I forgot what I was supposed to do.. Then the song ended abruptly.

[What the heck?!…]

But that didn’t matter because the Combination Mix of “Get the Balance Right” came on to slow things down, pulling me back to the 80s again. This time the same scene years ago had a way of ushering everyone off the dance floor for a break. The girls would go back to their friends to talk, while the boys would head on to the punch bowl to replenish their drinks.

[Yes kids, punch was probably the strongest thing served at 80s parties.]

And as everyone was cooling down, the Different Mix of “People are People” breaks the respite by kicking things up a notch once more. And before long, my humming has turned into singing as I try to match the low voice of Dave Gahan and the high one of Martin Gore.

It was then followed by the Pain Mix of “Strangelove,” just to keep the energy level high. But instead of heading out to the dance floor back in the past or typing on my keyboard in the present, I ended up getting a couple of pencils and tapped to the background instruments. It is by the end of this song that all the tension I had finally disappeared.

[A good thing though, because it was late.]

As I wrapped things up, I closed off tonight’s inspirational session with the original version of “Shake the Disease.” You’re probably wondering why I didn’t put on a remix, since the previous ones were remixed versions. Well for some strange reason, the original one continues to be the purest and most visceral. And as the song died down I was once more enveloped in the silence of my room.

[Or was it because I was temporarily deaf from playing things so loudly?]

Man, I needed that. It’s been a while since I listened to a great set of songs. Listening to Depeche Mode never gets old as they have a way of transporting me back to the past. I did much more than I expected by finding the inspiration I needed, releasing a ton of stress that needed to go, and finishing this article.

[Bravo!]

Well, it’s time for me to get the much needed sleep that my body craves for. Here’s hoping you’ve already found your own set of movies and melodies so you can do more than just be stressed out. If haven’t found something yet, give Depeche Mode a try. You don’t need to be an 80s baby to enjoy them as they are one of the few bands from the iconic 80s that still has new songs coming out.

So till my next article, try to make sure to get the balance right in life because once you find yourself feeling down, it may be hard to shake the disease. In my case, all it needed was a few songs from Depeche Mode to get a new life.

[All together now… Depeche Mode forever!]