Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody

The verses to "Blasphemous Rumours" describe a 16-year-old girl who attempts suicide but fails. She experiences a religious revival but is 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. The song stems from the times that Martin Gore would go with bandmate Andy Fletcher and former bandmate Vince Clarke to the church.[4] When Martin initially showed Andy the song, he found it quite offensive and said, "It certainly verges on the offensive."[4] Gore describes the song's meaning:

“I was going to church a lot at the time, not because I believed in it, but because there was nothing else to do on a Sunday. I found the service very hard to take seriously. The whole setup is quite handy but I’m not sure that’s what God intended. Particularly a part of the service called the prayer list, when the preacher rattles off the names of those sick and about to die. The person at the top of the list was guaranteed to die, but still everyone went right ahead thanking God for carrying out his will. It just seemed so strange to me, so ridiculous and so removed from real experiences.”[5]

Dave Gahan said,

“I’m by the way not anti-religious at all! I only oppose a certain kind of religion that was forced upon me when I was young. My mother was in the Salvation Army. So she sent me to the church every Sunday till my 18th birthday. Together with my sister, we usually went for a ride with the bike and told mom afterwards how lovely the homily was. The song only wants to say that no one should let someone force anything upon him. Whether it’s politics or something else, that doesn’t matter. You have to choose yourself what you wanna do with your life. And dare to take risks."[5]

When Depeche Mode announced that they were planning to release "Blasphemous Rumours" as a single, pushback from the religious community[6] resulted, and consequently, the band decided as a compromise to release the single as a double-A side with "Somebody."[6]

"Somebody", which was sung by Martin Gore in the studio in the nude,[7] includes one of Gore's "little twists", where the song builds as if it is 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."[8] Gore added this because “I simply can’t write your conventional pop fare. A pleasant song to me is unfinished, it isn’t telling the full story. Which is why I introduced the twist at the end of ‘Somebody’ because the song was just too nice. You say I’m cynical about love in my songs and perhaps I am but I think that’s an interesting angle. Otherwise you just become mundane like most chart music. Relationships do have their darker side and I like to write about it.”[9]

In a significant moment in the Tour of the Universe at the Royal Albert Hall, Alan Wilder made a surprise appearance accompanying by playing the piano while Martin Gore sang "Somebody".[10]

1. "Blasphemous Rumours" – 5:06
2. "Somebody (Remix)" – 4:19

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

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.

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.