Comatose

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Comatose
Song	Comatose
By	Depeche Mode
Songwriter	Martin L. Gore
Produced by	Depeche Mode Mark Bell
Recorded at	RAK and Sarm West (London) Sound Design (Santa Barbara) Electric Lady Sony (New York City)
Length (mm:ss)	3:24
Tempo	173 BPM
Time signature	4 4
Key	F Minor
Engineered by	Gareth Jones
Engineering assistance	Boris Aldridge Andrew Davies Andrew Griffiths Nick Sevilla Lisa Butterworth Jonathan Adler Alissa Myhowich James Chang
Pre-production	Gareth Jones
Additional production	Gareth Jones
Mixed by	Steve Fitzmaurice
Mastered by	Mike Marsh
Art direction	Anton Corbijn
Photography	Anton Corbijn
Sleeve design	Form
Recorded	June 2000 - February 2001
Originally released	14 May 2001
Live performances as Depeche Mode	0 times *
Total live performances	0 times *

"Comatose" is a song from the 2001 album Exciter by Depeche Mode.

Notes

Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher said in the May 2001 issue of Keyboard magazine:

Gore: "[Comatose] was one of the weirdest tracks on the record. There's not really a bass going on in that one. There's a lot of really loud hi-hat. The majority of the rest of that backing track was actually a sampled organ that we filtered down until it ended up sounding like a steamboat or something. It works, in a strange kind of way."

Fletcher: "It was a Wurlitzer or something - a big organ, with a Leslie. That track was actually fuller at one point, with a more conventional arrangement. We went more minimal."

Gore: "The chords were a lot more apparent on the demo. Mark sampled some sound; it was one chord. It was a good idea, and it had a good atmosphere, a good vibe to it, but somehow it didn't work. So we really distorted it. It just went a little bit too far: The chords were lost. That's when we had the idea of sampling each individual chord and doing the same sort of treatment he had on the original sample. That worked."

Fletcher: "[The pause after "Don't be afraid // I'm floating away"] was how it was on the demo. The rhythm track carried on under it on the demo, but apart from that it's very similar."

Producer Mark Bell, in the same magazine:

"On 'Comatose' the demo vocal was perfect. I changed the harmonics and rhythm to make Martin sound as if he's in one room singing and the music is being played in another room by some crazy dope nutty professor."

Mark Bell told author Jonathan Miller in 2001: "[W]e used that new PPG soft synth [Steinberg/Waldorf PPG Wave 2.V] on 'Comatose' where it plays an arpeggiating part."

Bell also told Keys magazine (translated from German): "We used a bass and noise-sound from the Casio FZ-10M, which has got a very weird sounding filter, as well as an arpeggio out of the PPG Wave 2.3."

Lyrics

Comatose

Comatose, almost

You've got me dreaming

Slipping in

And sliding out

Of conscious feeling

Take a light

Start the flame

Play the game

I am lost

In your eyes

Hypnotised

Here I believe

Dreams never deceive

Comatose, almost

You've got me dreaming

Slipping in

And sliding out

Life has no meaning

Bodies move

Colours change

Girl, you're strange

Here inside

I'm at home

I'm alive

Don't be afraid

I'm floating away

Comatose, almost

You've got me dreaming

Slipping in

And sliding out

Of conscious feeling

Comatose, almost

Comatose, almost

Comatose

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore
Publishing Information: ©2001 EMI Music Publishing Ltd. London WC2H 0EA. Assigned by Grabbing Hands Music Ltd. All rights Reserved.

Dates where Comatose was played

Comatose has never been played live.