Going backwards

I think I was in 7th grade when I first heard Depeche Mode. Up until that point, I didn’t really have my own musical identity. I pretty much listened to what my dad listened to. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t “mine.” Billy Joel, Elton John, ABBA, ELO … great stuff … but not mine.

I was riding in the car with some older friends while visiting my mom, no parents, and they were blasting “Black Celebration”. Top down, California summer, and suddenly I heard new music that was speaking to me.

The next day I bought the first Depeche Mode tape I could find, it was the Some Great Reward album. I was hooked. I bought everything I could find. My senior year of high school, I fell asleep almost every night to the Music For The Masses album.

They’ve certainly changed over the years, as have I. I never stopped loving their music. Some albums more than others, but I always find a song or two that speak to me.

Of course they’ve done it again with their most recent album too. “Going Backwards” really seems appropriate at our present moment … especially in this country.

We are not there yet
We have lost our soul
The course has been set
We’re digging our own hole
We’re going backwards
Armed with new technology
Going backwards
To a caveman mentality