Poorman

Poorman
Song Artist Depeche Mode Album Spirit Songwriter Martin L. Gore Produced by James Ford Recorded at Sound Design (Santa Barbara) Jungle City (New York) Label Columbia Mute Records Length (mm:ss) 4:26 Tempo N/A BPM Time signature N/A Key N/A Programming Matrixxman Kurt Uenala Engineering Jimmy Robertson Mixing assistance Brendan Morawski Mastering Brian Lucey Studio assistance Connor Long Óscar Muñoz David Schaeman Brendan Morawski Drums James Ford Art direction Anton Corbijn Design SMEL Recorded April - August, 2016 Originally released March 17, 2017 Played live 0 times * Total live plays 0 times *

Notes

Dave Gahan told Billboard:

"We recorded ['Spirit'] during the [2016 United States presidential election] campaign. We were recording during the time when Brexit was happening and when we finally got the news. A lot of change, a lot of "Really?"-type stuff happening. But it’s been going all around the world, and this separatism, "I've got to keep mine, and get out of my way," and all the stuff we've been hearing for years about the one percent -- "When are we going to see it trickle down?" It comes up in “Poorman” on this album."

Martin Gore told Drowned In Sound:

"'Poor Man' people could say, 'OK, how could you say that [as a rich man]? But I agree in paying taxes and I would be quite happy to pay higher taxes. I think huge multi-national corporations should be paying tax and they should be paying large amounts of tax; I don’t think it’s right to do a deal with a country and not pay tax."

Martin also told El Tiempo (translated from Spanish):

"I think 'Poorman' is definitely influenced by the blues, but I think in general this album is less "blues" than 'Delta Machine'. Maybe there's something "bluesy" in the way we write the lyrics."

Lyrics

Poorman

Hey, there's no news

Poor man still got the blues

He's walking around in worn out shoes

With nothing to lose

Hey, he's on the road

Pushing along his heavy load

Heading for no fixed abode

Shuffling slow

Corporations get the breaks

Keeping almost everything they make

Tell us just how long it's going to take

For it to trickle down

When will it trickle down

Hey, he's on the street

Laying in the snow and sleet

Begging for something to eat

And looking beat

Hey, passers-by

They don't dare to catch his eye

Couldn't even tell you why

Or what's happening inside

Corporations get the breaks

Keeping almost everything they make

Tell us just how long it's going to take

For it to trickle down

When will it trickle down

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore
Publishing Information: ©2016 Sony ATV Music Corp. and Grabbing Hands Music Ltd. All rights on behalf of itself and Grabbing Hands Music Ltd. admin. by Sony ATV Music Corp. (BMI). (USA). Published by Sony ATV Music Publishing Ltd Licensed by Grabbing Hands Music Ltd. (Rest Of The World)

Dates with available recordings of Poorman

• There are currently no recordings of Poorman available to download.

Dates where Poorman was played

2017-2018 Global Spirit Tour

• Poorman was not played during this tour.