To Have And To Hold

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To Have And To Hold
Song	To Have And To Hold
By	Depeche Mode
Songwriter	Martin L. Gore
Produced by	Depeche Mode Dave Bascombe Daniel Miller
Recorded at	Guillaume Tell (Paris) Konk (London)
Length (mm:ss)	2:51
Tempo	149 BPM
Time signature	4 4
Key	C Minor
Recorded	February - July, 1987
Originally released	28 September 1987
Live performances as Depeche Mode	0 times *
Total live performances	0 times *

"To Have And To Hold" is a song from the 1987 album Music For The Masses by Depeche Mode.

Notes

A sample of a Russian radio news broadcast incorporating speech of Igor Kirillov, a well-known news anchor in the USSR, can be heard at the beginning of the song. He says in Russian: "В докладах рассматривается эволюция ядерных арсеналов и социально-психологические проблемы гонки вооружений" (translation: "The report observes the evolution of nuclear arsenals and socio-psychological problems of the arms race"). This speech is likely from the Cold War era. Depeche Mode (and Alan in particular) said they didn't know the speech’s meaning when they used the audio in the song.

Q&A from Alan Wilder's Shunt Q&A:

Heiko Brune: Which version of 'To Have And To Hold' was first - LP or Spanish Taster? Which of the two do you prefer and why?

Alan: The LP version was recorded first and is possibly one of DM's darkest tracks. The Spanish Taster is basically Martin's demo which he insisted on recording as well. Which one do you think I prefer? I don't think there is a more perfect example of the musical differences between myself and Martin.

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Carsten Vogt: How much effort did it actually take you to convince (or persuade) Martin to release your version of 'To Have And To Hold' rather than his?

Alan: It wasn't really a question of persuading or convincing - the album version was the primary one, he just wanted to include his demo on the album.

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Aaron Henderson: On 31/8/98, Carsten Vogt asked a question about Martin's demo of 'To Have And To Hold'. The whole question + answer has me a bit confused... Was there an argument or something regarding which version went on the album and did Martin's demo end up out there somewhere? Please enlighten me.

Alan: It's really very simple. Martin submitted his demo in the usual way and although I liked the song, his original idea was too 'lightweight' for my taste (and I felt, the mood of the album) so I pushed it in a darker, more atmospheric direction. This was the primary version of the song which was always intended to be on the album. Martin however was very attached to his more 'poppy' demo and said that he wanted to record it too - hence the 'Spanish Taster'. It wasn't a question of fighting with one another over this, it's just that Martin saw the song in a different way to me. When I originally answered this question, I said that it was a good example of the musical differences between us.

Lyrics

To Have And To Hold

I need to be cleansed

It's time to make amends

For all of the fun

The damage is done

And I feel diseased

I'm down on my knees

And I need forgiveness

Someone to bear witness

To the goodness within

Beneath the sin

Although I may flirt

With all kinds of dirt

To the point of disease

Now I want release

From all this decay

Take it away

And somewhere

There's someone who cares

With a heart of gold

To have and to hold

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore
Publishing Information: ©1987 Grabbing Hands Music Ltd/EMI Music Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dates where To Have And To Hold was played

To Have And To Hold has never been played live.

Trivia

• A sample of audio derived from the intro of "To Have And To Hold" is used throughout the ambient track 'The Vault of the Future', an ambient track written by Mark Morgan for use in the 1997 post-apocalyptic adventure game Fallout. The song would later see use in 1998's Fallout 2 and 2010's acclaimed Fallout: New Vegas developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks, as well as 2010's Vault Archives, a remastered compilation album by Morgan published on 10 May 2010 by Aural Network.
• 'To Have And To Hold' has been covered by No Hotel (1991), Cycloon (1996), and Deftones (1998).