Halo

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Halo
Song	Halo
By	Depeche Mode
Songwriter	Martin L. Gore
Produced by	Depeche Mode Flood
Recorded at	Puk Studios, Denmark Logic Studios, Milan
Length (mm:ss)	4:30
Tempo	112 BPM
Time signature	4 4
Key	E♭ Minor
Engineering assistance	Daryl Bamonte Dick Meaney David Browne Mark Flannery
Mixed by	François Kevorkian
Recorded	May 1989 – January 1990
Originally released	19 March 1990
Live performances as Depeche Mode	431 times *
Total live performances	431 times *

"Halo" is a song from the 1990 album Violator by Depeche Mode.

Notes

Martin Gore says in the 1990-02-17 issue of NME:

"I suppose my songs do seem to advocate immorality but if you listen there's always a sense of guilt. On 'Halo' from the new album, you're right that I'm saying 'Let's give in to this' but there’s also a real feeling of wrongfulness."

Alan Wilder told Electricity Club in 2011:

Q: If there’s a favourite all time Depeche Mode track here at The Electricity Club, it’s 'Halo'. Could you tell us how you and co-producer Flood put together the palette of sounds that comprised the final arrangement?

A: "From memory, the drums were sampled from Led Zeppelin's 'When the Levee Breaks' (but secondhand from a rap record). It is one of the most commonly used drum samples – for obvious reasons as it has that very special Bonham sound. The same snare drum sound appears on DM’s 'Get Right With Me'. I've also heard that snare on a Massive Attack record and many others. [...] Other sounds on 'Halo', I'm more vague about, but we certainly would have used Flood's ARP 2600 in conjunction with other modular synths to create the bass parts and other sequencer parts. For the end choruses, there are some string samples which I think were derived from Elgar. One of my techniques is to find sections of classical strings and transpose / stretch these, then add my own samples, in order to formulate new and unusual arrangements. This was a case in point. The DM track 'Clean' utilised classical strings in a similar way."

Q&A on Alan Wilder's Shunt:

Kev & Schtace: Specifically, what are the elements of the song 'Halo' that you like. This is one of my favourite DM songs. The mood/atmosphere is powerful with an excellent build-up - it reminds me of the feeling I get when I listen to the LP version of 'In Your Room'.

A: "I like the string arrangement and the fact that we used drum loops on it - something we had hardly done before that time. It's not a bad song either."

Alan Wilder in his editorial on Violator:

"As for singles, 'Halo' was on a short-list but was never really a major contender. We ended up using it in a roundabout way by making a video (as well as one for 'Clean') to fill out the 'Strange Too' compilation."

Live versions

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

• Play 1990 World Violation Tour: 1990-08-04 Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles, CA, USA
• 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 2001 Exciter Tour: 2001-10-11 Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
• Play 2013-2014 Delta Machine Tour: 2013-07-11 BBK Festival, Bilbao, Spain

Lyrics

Halo

You wear guilt

Like shackles on your feet

Like a halo in reverse

I can feel

The discomfort in your seat

And in your head it's worse

There's a pain

A famine in your heart

An aching to be free

Can't you see

All love's luxuries

Are here for you and me

And when our worlds

They fall apart

When the walls come tumbling in

Though we may deserve it

It will be worth it

Bring your chains

Your lips of tragedy

And fall into my arms

And when our worlds

They fall apart

When the walls come tumbling in

Though we may deserve it

It will be worth it

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore
Publishing Information: ©1990 Grabbing Hands Music Ltd/EMI Music Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Composition

Sample sources

"Halo" - Depeche Mode 1990	Sample overview
	Click to display/hide audio
	Self-made samples
	Sample	Notes			Audio
	Synthesizer elements	The origin of the bass is a combination of likely two or more unique synthesized parts, including a 'dark' velocity-sensitive synth bass layered with an additional bass part. According to Wilder, these bass parts are likely to have originated from the Minimoog and producer Flood's ARP 2600.			✖
	Vocal elements	The choir stabs heard during the first chorus are comprised of a series of solo vocal "ahh" samples.			✖
	Sample sources
	Sample	Source	Status	Notes	Audio
	Melodic elements	Sound Ideas - Series 1000 General Effects Library - CD #1018 Naval Boats, Ships, Motorcycles - Track #35 "SHIP, HORN" (filename "ShipHorn 1018_35") - 1983 (originally available on reel-to-reel tape, 1979)	Confirmed	The lead riff heard throughout "Halo" employs a truncated sample of a naval ship horn derived from Sound Ideas's 1983 sound effects library Series 1000 General Effects Library CD #1018 Naval Boats, Ships, Motorcycles. The library is notable for debuting as the first commercially available sound effects library of its kind on compact disc.	Click to display/hide audio example
	Orchestral elements	Barry Adamson - Moss Side Story - "The Swinging Detective" - 6 March 1989	Confirmed	An orchestral string element derived from Barry Adamson's 1989 instrumental "The Swinging Detective" is utilised throughout "Halo".	Click to display/hide audio example
	Orchestral elements	Gustav Mahler, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta - Symphony No.5 in C sharp minor - IV Adagietto: Sehr Langsam. V. Rondo - Finale: Allegro - 1977	Confirmed	A manipulated section of audio featuring orchestral strings derived from a 1977 performance of the fourth movement of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra with Zubin Mehta is utilised throughout "Halo".	✖
	Orchestral elements	Gustav Mahler, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti - Symphony No.5 in C sharp minor - 4. Adagietto (Sehr langsam) - March 1970	Confirmed	A series of manipulated sections of audio featuring orchestral strings derived from a March 1970 performance of the fourth movement of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Georg Solti are utilised throughout "Halo".	Click to display/hide audio example
	Drum elements	Tone Lōc - Lōc-ed After Dark - "Don't Get Close" - 1989	Confirmed	A manipulated, re-sequenced section of audio featuring drum elements audible throughout "Halo" is derived from the intro drum solo of "Don't Get Close" by American rapper Tone Lōc from his 1989 debut album Lōc-ed After Dark. The audio featured on "Don't Get Close" is itself a sample originally derived from the intro drum solo of "Rock Candy" by Montrose for their 1973 debut album of the same name. It is Depeche Mode Live Wiki's opinion that Alan Wilder mistakenly misattributed the origin of this sample to a secondhand sample of Led Zeppelin's 1971 cover of "When The Levee Breaks" in a July 2011 interview for electricityclub.co.uk: "From memory, the drums [for "Halo"] were sampled from Led Zeppelin's 'When the Levee Breaks' (but secondhand from a rap record).	Click to display/hide audio example Note: In this example, the drum break as heard in "Rock Candy" by Montrose is compared to its use case in Tone Lōc's "Don't Get Close", and is then compared to relevant sections of audio in "Halo".
	Drum elements, snare drum	Fine Young Cannibals - The Raw & the Cooked - "She Drives Me Crazy" - 26 December 1988	Confirmed	A manipulated snare drum audible during the chorus sections of "Halo" is derived from the opening moments of the Fine Young Cannibals 1988 single "She Drives Me Crazy". Notably, this sound is also used throughout Wilder's 1989 "Eurotech Version" remix of Toni Halliday's "Time Turns Around", as well as the 2012 Recoil cover of Talk Talk's "Inheritance".	Click to display/hide audio example
	Orchestral elements	Edward Elgar - Unidentified composition	Unconfirmed	Wilder confirmed in a July 2011 interview for electricityclub.co.uk that "Halo" employs orchestral string elements sampled from an as yet unidentified piece of music composed by celebrated English composer Edward Elgar: For the end choruses, there are some string samples which I think were derived from Elgar. One of my techniques is to find sections of classical strings and transpose / stretch these, then add my own samples, in order to formulate new and unusual arrangements. This was a case in point. The [Depeche Mode] track "Clean" utilised classical strings in a similar way. The source of the sampled orchestral phrase would have been commercially available by September 1989 at the latest.	✖
	Vocal elements	Unidentified pornographic film	Unknown	The rhythmic vocal rhythm audible in the opening moments of "Halo" is confirmed by Violator engineer Roberto Baldi as having been sampled from a pornographic film. The film is likely to have released on VHS or Betamax cassette and would have been in circulation by May 1989.	✖

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "Halo"

Main article: List of dates where "Halo" was played

Trivia

• 'Halo' has been sampled in the following songs and remixes:
  • 'Prawdziwy Rapper Klamca (Propaganda Wersja)' - Peja and Slums Attack (2005)
  • 'Precious (DJ Dan 4 A.M. Mix)' - Depeche Mode (2005)
• 'Halo' has been covered by Józsa Alex and Quick (2003), Dimitris Korgialas (2005), and Weak13 (2017).