People Are People (1984)

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People Are People" is Depeche Mode's first single from their 1984 album Some Great Reward. Recorded at Hansa Mischraum in West Berlin, it was their first hit single in the US, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1]

Key Lyrics

So we're different colours and we're different creeds

And different people have different needs

It's obvious you hate me though I've done nothing wrong

I've never even met you, so what could I have done?


I can't understand

What makes a man

Hate another man

Help me understand

Background

As with many Depeche Mode songs, the band members see different meanings in "People Are People". According to Martin Gore, the song is about racism. Alan Wilder adds that it could also be about war.[2]

"People Are People" was written by Martin Gore, but the dancy, pop feel of the song may be credited to Alan Wilder. Wilder wrote the B-side, "In Your Memory". Each song has an extended remix, the "Different Mix" and the "Slik Mix" respectively (although the "In Your Memory" mix is often incorrectly called the "Slick Mix" or "Silk Mix"). It was one of the first songs recorded for the album when sessions began at the Hansa Mischraum studio in January 1984.[3]

Despite the song's success, Martin Gore considers it one of his least favourite songs. He prefers his songs to have subtle metaphors to allow people to find their own meanings to his songs, and feels "People Are People" does not fit that description. In 1990, he listed the song among some of the music he "regrets", calling "People Are People" "too nice, too commercial." It has not been played live since 1988.[4][5]

Reference

  1. "Record News". NME. London, England. 10 March 1984. p. 40. Retrieved from Wikipedia, February 4, 2021.
  2. Jim Reid. "Clunk Clunk Every Trip". 10 March 1984. Record Mirror. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  3. People Are People. Wikipedia. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  4. Stuart Maconie. "Sin Machine". 17 February 1990. NME. pp. 34–35. ISSN 0028-6362. Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  5. "People Are People by Depeche Mode". Setlist.fm. Retrieved February 4, 2021.