I Feel You

1. I Feel You List of Songs of Faith and Devotion songs

2. Walking In My Shoes →

I Feel You
Song	I Feel You
By	Depeche Mode
Songwriter	Martin L. Gore
Produced by	Depeche Mode Flood
Recorded at	Madrid, Spain Chateau du Pape, Hamburg, Germany
Length (mm:ss)	4:35 (album version) 4:27 (intro edit)
Tempo	122 BPM
Time signature	3 4
Key	D Major
Design	Anton Corbijn Area
Recorded	1992
Originally released	15 February 1993
Live performances as Depeche Mode	815 times *
Total live performances	886 times *

"I Feel You" is a song from the 1993 album Songs Of Faith And Devotion by Depeche Mode. It was released as a lead single on 15 February 1993.

Notes

Martin Gore in Bong issue no. 37, 1998:

"The whole 'Songs Of Faith And Devotion' project started off with the basic principle that we wanted to become more live, spontaneous and have a lot more performances involved. So that whole album turned out to be the rockiest that we've ever wanted to achieve. 'I Feel You' is probably the pinnacle of that and it's about the closest we're going to come to sounding like a real authentic rock band."

Dave Gahan in Rolling Stone issue #670: "[...] And then 'I Feel You' came on [while listening to Martin's demo tape]: That was the moment when I looked into the mirror with the broomstick and started miming air guitar. I was ready to do something with some purpose, and suddenly things started to fall into place."

Alan Wilder said in the May 1993 issue of Keyboard magazine:

"All the drums on there are played. Most of them were sampled and then sequenced in the form of drum loops. That's not to say that they don't change as the song goes on. There's a series of loops, which are sequenced together, using Steinberg Cubase, in a different structure from how they were originally performed."

Alan Wilder answered this during his Q&A on Shunt:

"'I Feel You' was basically mixed for the radio. We would listen through small speakers most of the time. There are definitely imperfections in the sound of 'SOFAD' from the mixing through to the mastering but so what... Who wants to listen to a technically perfect record with no soul or passion?

[...]

If I remember correctly, everyone else felt 'I Feel You' should be first, including Daniel. The main reason for the choice was that the track had attitude and was radically different to what we had done before. We hoped it would surprise people and make them curious about the rest of the album."

Andy Fletcher told Billboard in 1993:

"Since we had been away for so long, we wanted to come back with a track that sort of created an impression. People react to that track. They may not like it or they may love it. It makes a statement... If we released a more commercial track first, there is a danger that people might say, 'Oh, here they are again with the same old stuff.'"

Martin Gore said the same in the book Depeche Mode: Gott, Sex und Liebe in January 1993 (translated from Germany):

"It wasn't really a conscious decision [to make 'I Feel You' the first single]. When the album was finished, it was just somehow clear that this would be the first single. It's the most aggressive piece and we think it represents the album best. I also thought it was right to come out with a bang after a three-year break - better than making a comeback with a ballad, anyway. It's like a slap in the face, and that's a thousand times better than saying: Sorry, we're back."

Lyrics

I Feel You

I feel you

Your sun it shines

I feel you

Within my mind

You take me there

You take me where

The kingdom comes

You take me to

And lead me through Babylon

This is the morning of our love

It's just the dawning of our love

I feel you

Your heart it sings

I feel you

The joy it brings

Where heaven waits

Those golden gates

And back again

You take me to

And lead me through oblivion

This is the morning of our love

It's just the dawning of our love

I feel you

Your precious soul

And I am whole

I feel you

Your rising sun

My kingdom comes

I feel you

Each move you make

I feel you

Each breath you take

Where angels sing

And spread their wings

My love's on high

You take me home

To glory's throne

By and by

This is the morning of our love

It's just the dawning of our love

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore
Publishing Information: ©1992 Grabbing Hands Music Overseas/EMI Music Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "I Feel You"

Main article: List of dates where "I Feel You" was played

Live versions

This section provides an example of a live version of I Feel You from each tour that it was played.

• Play 1993 Devotional Tour: 1993-07-31 Crystal Palace Sports Ground, London, England, UK
• Play 1994 Exotic Tour: 1994-05-14 Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountainview, San Francisco, CA, USA
• Play 1998 The Singles Tour: 1998-10-05 Cologne Arena, Cologne, Germany
• Play 2003 Paper Monsters Tour: 2003-06-12 Hultsfred Festival, Hultsfred, Sweden
• Play 2005-2006 Touring The Angel: 2006-06-04 Rock Am Ring, Nurburgring, Germany
• Play 2009-2010 Tour Of The Universe: 2009-05-06 Rockhal, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
• Play 2013–2014 Delta Machine Tour: 2013-10-11 Austin City Limits Festival, Austin, TX, USA
• Play 2017-2018 Global Spirit Tour: 2017-09-09 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA
• Play 2023-2024 Memento Mori Tour: 2023-03-23 Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA, USA

Trivia

• 'I Feel You' has been covered by Vader (1995), Apollo 440 (1998), Catupecu Machu (2000), Claire's Birthday (2001), Placebo (2003), Škwor (2003), Pat MacDonald (2003), Slaves to the Symbol (2004), Samael (2005), The Narrow (2005), Collide (2009), Helalyn Flowers (2009), Scala & Kolacny Brothers (2010), Bebo Best, Evelins and Mr. Lova (2010), Studio-X (2011), Zed & Monsoon (2015), Johnny Marr (2015), and Chateau Pop (2017).
• 'I Feel You' has been sampled in the following songs by Depeche Mode and other artists:
  • 'My Joy' - Depeche Mode (1993)
  • 'Black Box (Pt. 1)' - Recoil (2000)
  • 'Who Wants Cake?' - Venetian Snares (2010)
• 'I Feel You' is featured in 2004 German-Turkish drama Head On and 2010 drama 8 Uhr 28. The Throb Mix of 'I Feel You' is featured in 2009 horror film The Collector.
• 'I Feel You' is also featured in a variety of television series, including season two episode sixteen and season three episode eighteen of Beavis and Butt-Head. The song is also featured in the season two finale of Netflix science fiction series Sense8 as well as a trailer for season two of fellow Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why.

Depeche Mode songs released as singles 1981-1985: Dreaming Of Me • New Life • Just Can't Get Enough • See You • The Meaning Of Love • Leave In Silence • Get The Balance Right • Everything Counts • Love In Itself • People Are People • Master And Servant • Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody • Shake The Disease • It's Called A Heart 1986-1989: Stripped • But Not Tonight • A Question Of Lust • A Question Of Time • Strangelove • Never Let Me Down Again • Behind The Wheel • Little 15 • Personal Jesus 1990-1998: Enjoy The Silence • Policy Of Truth • World In My Eyes • I Feel You • Walking In My Shoes • Condemnation • In Your Room • Barrel Of A Gun • It's No Good • Home • Useless • Only When I Lose Myself 2001-2009: Dream On • I Feel Loved • Freelove • Goodnight Lovers • Precious • A Pain That I'm Used To • Suffer Well • John The Revelator / Lilian • Martyr • Wrong • Peace • Fragile Tension / Hole To Feed 2013-2017: Heaven • Soothe My Soul • Should Be Higher • Where's The Revolution • Going Backwards • Cover Me 2023: Ghosts Again Recoil songs released as singles 1992-1998: Faith Healer • Drifting • Stalker / Missing Piece 2000-2008: Strange Hours • Jezebel • Prey • Allelujah Dave Gahan songs released as singles 2003-2008: Dirty Sticky Floors • I Need You • Bottle Living / Hold On • A Little Piece • Kingdom • Saw Something / Deeper And Deeper 2012-2015: Longest Day • Take Me Back Home • All Of This And Nothing • Shine Martin Gore solo songs released as singles 1989-2003: Compulsion • Stardust • Loverman 2012-2015: Spock • Single Blip • Aftermaths • Europa Hymn • "Pinking" (Christoffer Berg Remix) Official releases Studio albums • Live albums • Compilation albums • Video albums • Singles