"Precious" is a song by English

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

band

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

from their eleventh studio album, ''

Playing the Angel ''Playing the Angel'' is the eleventh studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was first released on 17 October 2005 by Mute Records in the UK, and a day later by Sire Records and Reprise Records in the United States. It w ...

'' (2005). It was released on 3 October 2005 by Mute,

Sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" an ...

, and

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...

as the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

. The song reached 4 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 71 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and No. 23 on the US

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart. It also topped the charts in Denmark, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, and it peaked within the top 10 in Austria,

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

, Canada, Finland, Germany, and Norway.

Background and lyrics

main songwriter

Martin Gore Martin Lee Gore (born 23 July 1961) is an English musician and songwriter. He is one of the founding members of the electronic music band Depeche Mode and is the band's main songwriter. He is the band's guitarist and keyboardist, and occasiona ...

wrote the song while he was going through a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

. The track is a message to Gore's children, who were aware of the divorce, and Gore felt guilty that they had to witness the process. Recognising their "fragile" state, Gore expresses his sympathy for them but also mentions that "things get broken" and tells them to keep faith in their parents.

Chart performance

Released in the United Kingdom on 3 October 2005, "Precious" debuted at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, which would become its peak, and spent a total of six weeks in the top 100. As of , it is the band's last top-10 single in the UK. In Ireland, on 6 October, the song first appeared at its peak of No. 12 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

. It was a chart-topper across mainland Europe, debuting at the top position in Italy and Spain and rising to No. 1 in Denmark, Hungary, and Sweden. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, "Precious" reached No. 4, peaking within the top 10 in Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Norway, and the

region of Belgium. In the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

region of Belgium, it entered the top 40. In the United States, where "Precious" was serviced to radio on 26 September 2005, the song debuted at No. 99 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and rose its highest position, No. 71, the following issue, 7 November 2005. It spent only one more week on the Hot 100, at No. 80, before leaving the listing. The single found better success on the ''Billboard'' dance charts, topping both the

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

and

Hot Dance Singles Sales The Dance Singles Sales was a record chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling dance singles in the United States. Its previous names include Hot Dance/Disco 12-inch Singles Sales (1985–1987), Hot Dance Mu ...

rankings on 29 October 2005. It additionally found peaks of No. 6 on the

Adult Alternative Songs Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radi ...

chart, No. 23 on the

chart, and No. 32 on the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

. On the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian music charts are a collection of record charts reflecting the music consumption of people in Canada. '' RPM'' and '' Billboard'' are the biggest publications to have published Canada's official charts for decades. However, the first ...

, the record reached No. 2 and remained on the listing for 12 weeks.

Music video

The music video for "Precious" features the band performing on an empty, computer-generated ocean liner, before walking out into an alien-looking (also CG) forest. The video was directed by Uwe Flade, who directed the " Enjoy the Silence 04" video, and was leaked online before the song's release.

B-sides

"Free" is the B-side to "Precious". It's a techno beat with an old school feel. It was unavailable in the US, aside from importing, but is now available on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

. It also appears as a bonus track on the Japanese version of ''

''. There is no remix of the song, aside from an early version that was heard at the ''

Touring the Angel Touring the Angel was a 2005–06 concert tour by English electronic group Depeche Mode in support of the act's 11th studio album, ''Playing the Angel'', which was released in October 2005. The tour, which was officially announced in June 20 ...

'' press conference, as shown on the ''Playing the Angel'' Electronic Press Kit, however, the full/stand-alone version is not available for download or purchase at this time.

Track listing

UK and European CD single # "Precious" (album version) – 4:10 # "Precious" (Sasha's Spooky mix single edit) – 5:45 European limited 7-inch

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone record, gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics ...

:A. "Precious" (album version) :B. "Precious" ( Michael Mayer Ambient mix) European 12-inch single :A. "Precious" (Sasha's Spooky mix full length) – 10:32 :AA. "Precious" (Sasha's Gargantuan vocal mix full length) – 9:40 European enhanced CD single # "Precious" (album version) # "Free" # "Precious" (video) European maxi-CD single # "Precious (Sasha's Gargantuan vocal mix edit) – 7:11 # "Precious (Misc. full vocal mix) – 5:44 # "Free – 5:12 US and Canadian maxi-CD single # "Precious (Sasha's Spooky mix) – 7:33 # "Precious (Sasha's Gargantuan vocal mix) – 7:10 # "Precious (Michael Mayer Balearic mix) – 7:18 # "Precious (Misc. full vocal mix) – 5:41 # "Precious (Misc. Crunch mix) – 6:51 # "Precious (Motor mix) – 6:37 US digital download (radio version) # "Precious" (US radio version) – 4:07 # "Free" – 5:10 DVD single # "Precious" (video) # "Precious" (Motor remix) # "Precious" (Michael Mayer Ambient mix)

Personnel

Personnel are lifted from the UK CD single liner notes. * Martin L. Gore – writing *

Ben Hillier Ben Hillier is an English songwriter and pop-rock record producer who is part of the creative team 140 dB. He produced the notable albums ''Playing the Angel'', '' Sounds of the Universe'' and ''Delta Machine'' by Depeche Mode, ''Think Tank ...

– production, mixing, engineering *

Steve Fitzmaurice Stephen Fitzmaurice is an Irish mixer and producer based in London, England. His credits include albums for Depeche Mode, Seal, Sam Smith, Ian Brown, Kylie Minogue, Mónica Naranjo, Sting, Paloma Faith, Olly Murs, The Kooks, Alicia Keys, U2, ...

– mixing *

Dave McCracken Dave McCracken is a British songwriter and music producer. He has produced Ian Brown's solo albums: '' Golden Greats'', '' Music of the Spheres'', '' Solarized'', and ''My Way''. Additionally, he produced Phoebe Green's second album, ''Lucky Me ...

– programming * Richard Morris – programming, engineering *

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner" ...

– art direction, photography, cover design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links

Single information from the official Depeche Mode website
{{Authority control 2005 singles 2005 songs Depeche Mode songs Mute Records singles Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in Hungary Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in Spain Number-one singles in Sweden Reprise Records singles Sire Records singles Song recordings produced by Ben Hillier Songs about divorce Songs based on actual events Songs written by Martin Gore