Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody

"Blasphemous Rumours"/"Somebody" is Depeche Mode's twelfth UK single and first double A-side single, released on 29 October 1984.

"Blasphemous Rumours"/"Somebody"
Single by Depeche Mode
from the album Some Great Reward
Released29 October 1984
RecordedJune 1984
Music Works in Highbury,
Hansa Mischraum in West Berlin
GenreNew wave[1]
Length5:06 (Blasphemous Rumours)
6:20 (Blasphemous Rumours, 12" version)
4:19 (Somebody)
4:27 (Somebody, album version)
LabelMute
Songwriter(s)Martin Gore
Producer(s)Depeche Mode, Daniel Miller, and Gareth Jones
Depeche Mode singles chronology
"Master and Servant"
(1984)		 "Blasphemous Rumours"/"Somebody"
(1984)		 "Shake the Disease"
(1985)

Both A-side songs are from the album Some Great Reward. "Somebody" is the first single with Martin Gore as lead vocals, one of three to date (the others being "A Question of Lust" and "Home").

The music videos for both songs were directed by Clive Richardson.

Song information

The verses to "Blasphemous Rumours" describe a 16-year-old girl who attempts suicide but fails. She experiences a religious revival but then "Hit by a car / Ended up / On a life support machine" (from the lyrics). The chorus uses these incidents to conclude, "I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours / But I think that God's got a sick sense of humour / And when I die, I expect to find him laughing." Like other songs on Some Great Reward, the song uses a dense sound with extensive sampled percussion.

When Depeche Mode announced that they were planning to release "Blasphemous Rumours" as a single, pushback from the religious community resulted, and consequently, the band decided as a compromise to release the single as a double-A side with "Somebody."[2]

"Somebody", which was sung by Martin Gore in the studio in the nude, includes one of Gore's "little twists", where the song builds as if it's a song about finding your perfect love, only to have him reveal at the end "though things like this make me sick / in a case like this I'll get away with it."[3]

Track listings

All songs written by Martin Gore except:

7": Mute / 7Bong7 (UK)
  1. "Blasphemous Rumours" – 5:06
  2. "Somebody (Remix)" – 4:19

7" EP: Mute / 7Bong7E (UK)
  1. "Somebody (Remix)" – 4:19
  2. "Everything Counts (Live)" - 5:53
  3. "Blasphemous Rumours" – 5:06
  4. "Told You So (Live Version)" - 4:54

12": Mute / 12Bong7 (UK)
  1. "Blasphemous Rumours" – 6:20
  2. "Somebody (Live)" – 4:26
  3. "Two Minute Warning (Live)" – 4:36
  4. "Ice Machine (Live)" – 3:45
  5. "Everything Counts (Live)" – 5:53
  • This version of the single was also released on CD. Intercord 826.839. No Bong number, same cover as the vinyl version.

CD: Mute / CDBong7 (UK)
  1. "Blasphemous Rumours" – 6:20
  2. "Told You So (Live)" – 4:56
  3. "Somebody (Remix)" – 4:19
  4. "Everything Counts (Live)" – 5:53
  • The CD single was released in 1991 as part of the singles box set compilations.

All live tracks recorded at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, England on 29 September 1984.

Cover versions of "Somebody"

References
  1. Michael Sutton. "Forever - Dune - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic.
  2. Thompson, Dave (15 November 1994). Depeche Mode: Some Great Reward. St. Martin's Press. pp. 152–155.
  3. Shaw, William (April 1993), "In The Mode", Details magazine: 90–95, 168
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