The Dead Of Night

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The Dead Of Night
Song	The Dead Of Night
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)	4:50
Tempo	144 BPM
Time signature	3 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	85 times *
Total live performances	85 times *

"The Dead Of Night" is a song from the 2001 album Exciter by Depeche Mode.

Notes

Martin Gore told the May 2001 issue of Flaunt magazine that the song was inspired by a club in London called 'Brown's':

"[I]t was a really sad scene. You had three levels - the regular bit downstairs, the slightly VIP but on the second floor, then upstairs the total VIP-VIP bit, which at Brown's was called the Red Room. And you got there, and everyone was taking so many drugs because it was commonly known that it was perfectly cool to take drugs there. So the Red Room for me was the 'Zombie Room', because everyone in there was always talking way too fast, saying nothing and just staring. And while you're there, all these people in the room are your best mates in the world. But the next day, if you bump into one of them on the street, you won't even know their name."

Author Jonathan Miller interviewed producer Mark Bell in 2001, who said:

"We were working on a song called 'The Dead Of Night,' and we were having trouble with the bridge. Martin suggested using a kind of jazz/waltz sample he had, but it sounded like complete sh*t. We were just about to take it off when in walks Airto Moreira! It was really embarrassing, as the song was at its worst, but we still ended up playing him the other songs [Freelove and I Feel Loved]. He came back a week later with his toys and played some brilliant stuff that sat well with the tracks, whereas if it had been someone trying to sell themselves they might have gone completely over the top. [...] We used loads of different synths on 'The Dead Of Night,' messing about with the envelopes and pitch controls. We just went completely silly and it became a jam session. Then, once we found something that worked, we made it into a sort of performance that really suited the song."

Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore said in the Electronic Press Kit:

Andy: "[...] I played a track to a friend of mine who's not really a Depeche Mode fan. I played him a song called 'Dead of Night' and at the end he was going, "That's the darkest song I've ever heard in my whole life!" And I'm sort of thinking, "This is really uplifting!" [laughs] [...]"

Martin: "I think we've always made weird pop and I think this is another great example of that. I think it won't fit in anywhere, but we never have, so that's not particularly a worry. [...]"

Martin Gore said in the May 2001 issue of Keyboard Magazine:

"A lot of the stuff that we used was contemporary, but of course we used a lot of old stuff as well. 'Dead of Night', for instance: A lot of the sounds for that were created with the [EMS] Synthi AKS - even that heavy sound at the beginning, which sounds like a guitar, was actually a synth. A lot of people don't realise that you can get those sorts of sounds out of those keyboards."

Lyrics

The Dead Of Night

We're the horniest boys

With the corniest ploys

Who take the easiest girls

To our sleaziest worlds

With our lecherous plans

In our treacherous hands

You'd be wasting your time

Saying no, it's a crime

All that we live for you'll regret

All you remember we'll forget

We are the dead of night

We're in the zombie room

We're twilight's parasites

With self-inflicted wounds

We are the dead of night

We're in the zombie room

Heavenly oversights

Eating from silver spoons

With our decadent minds

And our innocent lines

You'll be playing our games

With your bodies in flames

When delirious fun

Has seriously begun

You'll be down on your knees

You'll be begging us please

All we're demanding you'll supply

All we're accused of we'll deny

We are the dead of night

We're in the zombie room

We're twilight's parasites

With self-inflicted wounds

We are the dead of night

We're in the zombie room

Heavenly oversights

Eating from silver spoons

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

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "The Dead Of Night"

Main article: List of dates where "The Dead Of Night" was played