Suffer Well

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Suffer Well
Song	Suffer Well
By	Depeche Mode
Songwriter	Dave Gahan Christian Eigner Andrew Phillpott
Produced by	Ben Hillier
Recorded at	Sound Design (Santa Barbara)
Length (mm:ss)	3:49
Tempo	131 BPM
Time signature	4 4
Key	E Minor
Programmed by	Dave McCracken Richard Morris
Original programming	Christian Eigner Andrew Phillpott
Engineered by	Ben Hillier Richard Morris
Mixing assistance	Devin Workman Kt Rangnick
Mastered by	Emily Lazar
Mastering assistance	Sarah Register
Recording assistance	Nick Sevilla Arjun Agerwala Rudyard Lee Cullers Devin Workman Kt Rangnick
Art direction	Anton Corbijn
Design	Anton Corbijn Four5one.com
Photography	Anton Corbijn
Recorded	January - July 2005
Originally released	27 March 2006
Live performances as Depeche Mode	124 times *
Total live performances	124 times *

"Suffer Well" is a song from the 2005 album Playing The Angel and is the first Depeche Mode single to have been written by Dave Gahan. It was released as a single on 27 March 2006.

Notes

Dave Gahan told The Wave Magazine in 2005:

"There's a song I wrote on the new album called 'Suffer Well'. When it started out, it was a much slower song and we just decided to go in a really pop way with it. Which is a contrast to what it’s saying lyrically, which is: Suffer well, because whatever it is you’re suffering, if you suffer well enough, you won’t have to suffer anymore. It’s something that was said to me a long time ago, which I did not understand. A guy who was sitting with me and had a lot more experience in life – an older gentleman – said, 'You know, David, suffer well.' And I was like, 'What the fuck are you talking about? Thanks a lot, man!' It came back to me a few years ago, what he was really saying: Suffer well, and if you suffer well enough, you can move on."

Dave Gahan told M6's TV show 'Focus Rock' in October 2007:

"I really like 'Suffer Well' actually, [the music video is] fun. And that was was quite a challenge to make, there. The song is about, in, what you believe to be suffering, is where you grow and learn about yourself. Sometimes it's difficult, if you really wanna grow. So once a friend of mine said to me years ago, when I was complaining about life or whatever, my life, he said to me very calmly, "You know David, just suffer well." And I was so angry, I was like... But years later, it made sense, it made a lot of sense."

When Ben Hillier was asked in 2017 how much 'Suffer Well' has been changed from the demo, he replied:

"From what I can remember, we sped it up a bit and put the drum groove on. I think Martin came up with guitar riff but it may have been on the demo and he also tweaked the chords in the chorus. Dave kept working on the vocals up to the last minute to get them just right."

"Simlish" version

A version of Suffer Well with vocals re-recorded in the constructed language Simlish, as used in the Sims video game series, was included in The Sims 2: Open for Business expansion pack, released in 2006.

The song differs from the album version by featuring vocals by Dave Gahan which were entirely re-recorded in Simlish in December 2005. It appears that Martin Gore did not re-record any backing vocals in Simlish for the chorus for this version of the song, since only Dave's vocals are heard. The song is part of the game's "New Wave" radio station.

The original 128kbps MP3 extracted from the video game's files is available to listen to below, and is likely to be the highest-quality version of the audio attainable:

An Electronic Arts press release titled "EA and Depeche Mode Collaborate on Signature Song for The Sims 2 Open for Business; Chart-Toppers Depeche Mode and The Sims Team Up to Make Beautiful Music in Simlish!" mentions:

Depeche Mode's lead singer, David Gahan, said, "Depeche Mode has always been open to new ways of sharing our music, but re-recording a Simlish-language version of 'Suffer Well' just sounded completely bizarre. Of course, that's why [we] couldn't resist doing it."

GameSpot reviewer Ryan Davis mentioned in his review of the video game's expansion pack that "it is nothing short of surreal when you hear David Gahan singing a song off Depeche Mode's latest album in simlish."

Promotional music video for The Sims 2: Open for Business

A promotional music video for the Simlish version of Suffer Well was created by Electronic Arts using footage recorded in the The Sims 2: Open for Business video game expansion pack. The video also showcases some of the newly added business gameplay.

The "high quality" 320x240 resolution version of the music video from the TheSims2.com website was retrieved via the Internet Archive and has been re-encoded for viewing in your browser below:

Synopsis

The music video begins with a few shots of Sims working at different businesses before showing a female protagonist Sim struggling to operate her business by herself. She assembles a sentient male robot called a "Servo" to help operate her business, and the Servo is shown to be working in the protagonist's business which becomes more successful as a result.

The protagonist is shown performing a "Tune Up" action to the Servo, which is a special "flirt" option that can only be done to a Servo. According to The Sims Wiki, a Servo in The Sims 2: Open for Business is essentially a Sim in robotic form, and as such, they have relationships just like normal Sims do.

After some time spent with the protagonist, the Servo seems to fall in love with the protagonist. The Servo purchases a wedding ring and proposes to the protagonist; however, the protagonist rejects, greatly upsetting the Servo who walks away from the business.

The protagonist appears to flirt with one of the employees at her business. The Servo observes this and throws a tantrum, and the protagonist fires or kicks out the Servo. Distraught, the Servo is shown drinking at a bar, then losing a fight in the street outside before walking off. Down the street, the Servo finds an easel.

The protagonist's business catches on fire. Meanwhile, the Servo is shown painting on the newfound easel.

Devastated by the loss of her business, the protagonist goes drinking at the bar. The Servo has opened up a successful business selling paintings and artwork.

While sleeping, the protagonist seems to dream about the Servo, and later visits his business. The protagonist attempts to make amends, or perhaps get a job working for the Servo since her business has failed, but the Servo refuses. The protagonist looks disappointed as she walks past some other Sims' businesses, concluding the video.

The story is interspersed with shots of Sims re-creations of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Andrew Fletcher performing the song. There are also some shots of other Sims' businesses throughout the video, likely to help depict the new gameplay elements of the game.

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Technical note: the video embedded above was re-encoded from Sorenson 3 codec to H264 to allow playback in modern browsers, using high quality settings to minimize further quality loss. The audio of the original file was already AAC, so it was simply passed-through, and no re-encoding was performed. You can download the original .MOV file from the Internet Archive if you wish to view the original quality version with no further lossy video encoding performed.

A shorter edited version of the song is used for the music video, which cuts out the third verse and most of the instrumental ending. The song's duration in the music video is 2:21, whereas the audio version found in the video game is 3:51.

The music video was originally available on TheSims2.com, but that entire website is no longer available. An Internet Archive capture of the webpage is available, but the video does not play directly on that webpage. The music video also appeared on archives.depechemode.com on March 2, 2006 (Internet Archive link), though all available versions there were re-encoded, resulting in reduced quality compared to the version from TheSims2.com.

Lyrics

Suffer Well

Where were you when I fell from grace

A frozen heart an empty space

Something's changed and it's in your eyes

Please don't speak you'll only lie

I found treasure not where I thought

Peace of mind can't be bought

Still I believe

Just hang on

Suffer well

Sometimes it's hard

It's hard to tell

An angel led me when I was blind

I said take me back I've changed my mind

Now I believe

From the blackest room I was torn

You called my name my love was born

So I believe

Just hang on

Suffer well

Sometimes it's hard

It's hard to tell

Songwriter: Dave Gahan / Christian Eigner / Andrew Phillpott
Publishing Information: ©2005 JJSR Productions Inc. / Universal Music Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "Suffer Well"

Main article: List of dates where "Suffer Well" was played

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