Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth

"Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" is a cover of the song by the rock band Sparks, which shares the same name. At select dates during the final two legs of the 1987-1988 Music For The Masses Tour, Martin Gore, as a member of Depeche Mode, performed this song live in an acoustic rendition. Furthermore, he included a cover of the same song on his first solo album, the Counterfeit e.p.

Martin's original demo

A flexidisc attributed to Depeche Mode containing 'Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth' was sent to members of the official fan club around Christmas 1987, aptly named "Happy Christmas 87 From Depeche Mode". This is Martin's original demo version of the song. It differs somewhat from the version later released on Counterfeit e.p., but it sounds very similar to how the track was performed live during the final two legs of the 1987-1988 Music For The Masses Tour. The backing sequence of this track, used during the tour, is available to listen to at 1987-1988 Music For The Masses tour backing tapes.

Alan Wilder was asked about this song and posted on Shunt Q&A:

In 1987 Depeche recorded the Sparks' track, 'Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth' for a special Christmas fan club flexi disc. This track has a rather minimalistic arrangement and anyone who listens to it may get the impression that the recording of this song was a 'one afternoon affair'. Could you please give me some details about it?

I'm very vague about this one - can't recall anything about the recording. I suspect you to be right - we must have recorded it in the afternoon while I was thinking about the match in the evening :-)

On 15 October 2019, Daniel "BRAT" Barassi, Depeche Mode's archivist, confirmed on the Home forum that this version is Martin's original demo version. He also relays that the original master tape is unfortunately unaccounted for at this time.

Since this is Martin's original demo version, Alan likely had little to no involvement with producing this song for release on the flexi-disc, so that may explain why he doesn't remember anything about this song in the Q&A above. He was most likely later involved with producing the sequence of the song used during the Music For The Masses tour, however.

Live versions

This section provides examples of live versions of Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth from each tour that it was played. The recordings from 1988-04-29 San Francisco, 1988-05-18 Minneapolis, and 2003-05-06 Los Angeles are generally regarded as the best sounding versions out of these examples.

1987-1988 Music For The Masses Tour

• Play 1988-04-21 NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan (Audience)
• Play 1988-04-29 Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountainview, CA, USA (Audience)
• Play 1988-05-09 McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, CO, USA (Audience)
• Play 1988-05-18 Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Audience)

2003 A Night With Martin L. Gore

• Play 2003-04-24 E-Werk, Cologne, Germany (Audience)
• Play 2003-04-28 La Cigale, Paris, France (Audience)
• Play 2003-05-02 Astoria Theatre, London, England, UK (Audience)
• Play 2003-05-06 Mayan Theater, Los Angeles, CA, USA (Audience)

Lyrics

Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth

When she's on her best behaviour

Don't be tempted by her favours

Never turn your back on mother earth

Towns are hurled from A to B

By hands that look so smooth to me

Never turn your back on mother earth

Grasp at straws that don't want grasping

Gaze at clouds that come down crashing

Never turn your back on mother earth

Three days and two nights away from my friends

Amen to anything that brings a quick return

To my friends

To my friends

Never turn your back on mother earth

Well I'll admit I was unfaithful

But from now on I'll be more faithful

Never turn your back on mother

Never turn your back on mother

Never turn your back on mother earth

Songwriter: Ron Mael
Publishing Information: ©1974 Island Records. All rights reserved.

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth"

Main article: List of dates where "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" was played