"The Meaning of Love" 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 second studio album, ''

A Broken Frame ''A Broken Frame'' is the second studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 27 September 1982 by Mute Records. The album was written entirely by Martin Gore and was recorded as a trio after the departure of Vince Cl ...

'' (1982). It was released on 26 April 1982 as the album's second single, and the band's fifth overall. Released in the UK, Germany and promotionally in Spain, it reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background and release

"The Meaning of Love" is a song

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 ...

had written originally as a teenager, and was re-arranged and recorded by Depeche Mode in early 1982 as a follow-up to their successful album '' Speak & Spell'' (1981). Released only in Europe on 26 April 1982, it subsequently reached number 12 on the UK singles chart, making the song the band's fourth straight to reach the UK top 20. In the UK, the single was released by Mute records on 7" and 12" vinyl with catalogue numbers 7MUTE022 and 12MUTE022, respectively, and in Germany, Intercord records released the 7" with catalogue number INT 111.804. Early German pressings were released on red vinyl, and later issues used standard black vinyl.

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

released the single promotionally in Spain on 7" vinyl, catalogue number SPBO-7333. The B-side, "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)", is an instrumental written by Gore and used as the intro music for the A Broken Frame Tour, and named for the town of

Oberkorn Oberkorn (, de: Oberkorn ) is a town in the commune of Differdange in south-western Luxembourg. , the town had a population of 4,737. Etymology Both the towns of Oberkorn and Niederkorn get their names from the river D'Kuer (also called as ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Music video

Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll ...

, who had directed the band's previous two videos, also directed the video for "The Meaning of Love." The video was the second video to feature

Alan Wilder Alan Charles Wilder (born 1 June 1959) is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer and member of the electronic band Depeche Mode from 1982 to 1995. After his departure from the band, the musical project Recoil became his pri ...

, although he did not contribute to the song. In retrospect, the band didn't like the video, and as a result it was not included on later video compilations such as '' Some Great Videos''. Fletcher admitted that they were struggling with their image at the time, "torn between being a pop band ... and a cooler alternative band." Retrospective publications later called the videos from this time period "worst case, embarrassing, and at best a documentation of these innocent times."

Track listing

All tracks written by Martin L. Gore 7″: Mute / 7Mute22 (UK) # "The Meaning of Love" – 3:05 # "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" – 4:07 12″: Mute / 12Mute22 (UK) # "The Meaning of Love" (Fairly Odd mix) – 4:59 # "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" (Development mix) – 7:37 CD: Mute / CDMute22 (UK) – released in 1991 # "The Meaning of Love" – 3:05 # "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" – 4:07 # "The Meaning of Love" (Fairly Odd mix) – 4:59 # "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" (Development mix) – 7:37 CD: Sire / 40293-2 (US) – released in 1991 # "The Meaning of Love" – 3:05 # "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" – 4:07 # "The Meaning of Love" (Fairly Odd mix) – 4:59 # "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" (Development mix) – 7:37

Charts

References

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External links

Single information from the official Depeche Mode website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meaning of Love, The 1982 singles 1982 songs Depeche Mode songs Music videos directed by Julien Temple Mute Records singles Song recordings produced by Daniel Miller Songs written by Martin Gore