Shouldn't Have Done That

Notes

Towards the end of the song, some chatter can be heard that seems to have been reversed (listen to a sample here). When one unreverses one stem of this chat, it reveals Martin Gore telling a children's story (as transcribed by a fan here):

The big bird is pecking

The little bird is pecking as well

The big bird has got more worms than the little bird

So the little bird doesn't like this

He's after the worms that are really owned by the big bird

He flies over to the big bird's worms

Oh and what joy it was when he got those worms

And he flew away

He flew onto the top of the mountain [Martin starts laughing]

The big bird was too fat

He couldn't fly [Martin laughs some more]

The story could possibly be related to the following explanation given by Martin Gore when a fan asked him in a letter in 1982 about the etchings on DM's vinyl single copies, including 'Leave In Silence', which has the etchings "LITTLE BIRDS PECKING ! / LITTLE BIRD’S TAKEN THE WURM !" Martin responded to him: "[...] These are our studio nicknames and sayings. Little Bird is the two track machine and big Bird is the 16 track machine. Little bird's pecking means that the two track is running and LB's taken the worm means that a signal has shown that it is recording from the 16 track (Big Bird). Very stupid isn’t it (Andy's idea)."

Daniel Miller wrote in the sleeve notes for the A Broken Frame Remaster CD in 2006:

"I remember we got Blancmange in to do some on-the-spot marching for 'Shouldn't Have Done That' because they were in the studio next door, making their record, and they were mates with Depeche Mode."

Lyrics

Shouldn't Have Done That

Plans made in the nursery

Can change the course of history

Remember that

Mummy's annoyed, says go and play

Don't show your face

Stay away all day

Shouldn't have done that

A small boy and his infantry

Marching around so naturally

Shouldn't have done that

Grows up and goes to school

Such a nice boy

Obeys all the rules

Mummy's proud of that

Leaves school to follow his ambition

Knows what he wants

To be a politician

Shouldn't have done that

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore
Publishing Information: ©1982 Grabbing Hands Music Ltd/EMI Music Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dates with available recordings of Shouldn't Have Done That

There are currently 14 recordings of Shouldn't Have Done That available.

• 1982-10-12 The Dome, Brighton, England, UK/Source 1
• 1982-10-22 Empire Theatre, Liverpool, England, UK/Source 1
• 1982-10-25 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK/Source 1
• 1982-10-25 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK/Source 2
• 1982-10-27 Apollo, Manchester, England, UK/Source 1
• 1982-10-27 Apollo, Manchester, England, UK/Source 2
• 1982-11-26 Saltlageret, Copenhagen, Denmark/Source 1
• 1982-11-28 Zeche, Bochum, Germany/Source 1
• 1982-12-04 Odeon, Goslar, Germany/Source 1
• 1982-12-09 University Aula, Saarbrücken, Germany/Source 1
• 1983-02-07 Messehalle, Frankfurt, Germany/Source 1
• 1983-04-03 New Latin Quarter, Tokyo, Japan/Source 1
• 1983-04-06 A.C. Hall, Hong Kong, British Hong Kong/Source 1
• 1983-05-28 Euro Festival, Vechtewiese, Schüttorf, Germany/Source 1

Dates where Shouldn't Have Done That was played

1982-1983 A Broken Frame Tour

Shouldn't Have Done That was played 47 times during this tour.

• 1982-10-04 Golddiggers, Chippenham, England, UK
• 1982-10-06 National Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
• 1982-10-07 City Hall, Cork, Ireland
• 1982-10-08 Leisure Land, Galway, Ireland
• 1982-10-10 Gaumont, Southampton, England, UK
• 1982-10-11 De Montford Hall, Leicester, England, UK
• 1982-10-12 The Dome, Brighton, England, UK
• 1982-10-13 Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff, England, UK
• 1982-10-15 Colston Hall, Bristol, England, UK
• 1982-10-16 Odeon Theatre, Birmingham, England, UK
• 1982-10-17 Odeon Theatre, Birmingham, England, UK
• 1982-10-19 Tiffany's, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
• 1982-10-20 Playhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
• 1982-10-21 City Hall, Newcastle, England, UK
• 1982-10-22 Empire Theatre, Liverpool, England, UK
• 1982-10-24 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK
• 1982-10-25 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK
• 1982-10-27 Apollo, Manchester, England, UK
• 1982-10-28 City Hall, Sheffield, England, UK
• 1982-10-29 Coliseum, St. Austell, England, UK
• 1982-11-25 Draken, Stockholm, Sweden
• 1982-11-26 Saltlageret, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 1982-11-28 Zeche, Bochum, Germany
• 1982-11-29 Mulheim Stadthalle, Cologne, Germany
• 1982-11-30 Musikhalle, Hamburg, Germany
• 1982-12-02 Ballroom Blitz, Hannover, Germany
• 1982-12-03 Metropol, Berlin, Germany
• 1982-12-04 Odeon, Goslar, Germany
• 1982-12-05 Alabama Halle, Munich, Germany
• 1982-12-07 Oz, Stuttgart, Germany
• 1982-12-09 University Aula, Saarbrücken, Germany
• 1982-12-10 Grille Disco, Minden, Germany
• 1982-12-12 Le Mirano, Brussels, Belgium
• 1982-12-14 Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht, The Netherlands
• 1983-02-07 Messehalle, Frankfurt, Germany
• 1983-03-24 The Ritz, New York, NY, USA
• 1983-03-25 Concert Hall, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 1983-03-26 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL, USA
• 1983-03-28 Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC, Canada
• 1983-03-29 Kabuki Theatre, San Francisco, CA, USA
• 1983-03-30 Beverly Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, USA
• 1983-04-02 Pithecantropus, Tokyo, Japan
• 1983-04-03 New Latin Quarter, Tokyo, Japan
• 1983-04-06 A.C. Hall, Hong Kong, British Hong Kong
• 1983-04-09 Napalai Hall, Bangkok, Thailand
• 1983-04-10 Napalai Hall, Bangkok, Thailand
• 1983-05-28 Euro Festival, Vechtewiese, Schüttorf, Germany

1983-1984 Construction Time Again Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

1984-1985 Some Great Reward Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

1986 Black Celebration Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

1987-1988 Music For The Masses Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

1990 World Violation Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

1993 Devotional Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

1994 Exotic Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

1997 Ultra Parties

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

1998 The Singles Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

2001 Exciter Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

2003 Paper Monsters Tour (Dave Gahan solo)

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

2003 "A Night With Martin L. Gore" (Martin L. Gore solo)

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

2005-2006 Touring The Angel

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

2009-2010 Tour Of The Universe

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

2013-2014 Delta Machine Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.

2017-2018 Global Spirit Tour

• Shouldn't Have Done That was not played during this tour.