Everything Counts

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3. Pipeline
4. Everything Counts
List of Construction Time Again songs
5. Two Minute Warning
Everything Counts
Single-Every.jpg
Song Everything Counts
By Depeche Mode
Songwriter Martin L. Gore
Produced by Daniel Miller
Depeche Mode
Recorded at The Garden (London)
Length (mm:ss) 4:19 (album version)
3:58 (7"/single version)
7:18 (12" version)
Tempo 114 BPM
Time signature 4
4
Key C Major
Engineered by Ferg Peterkin
Gareth Jones
Tonmeister Gareth Jones
Mixed at Hansa Mischraum
Mastered by Christian Stegmaier
Design Martyn Atkins
Town & Country Planning
Photography Brian Griffin
Illustrations Ian Wright
Recorded May 1983
Originally released 11 July 1983
Live performances as Depeche Mode 854 times *
Total live performances 854 times *

"Everything Counts" is a song from the 1983 album Construction Time Again by Depeche Mode. It was released as a lead single on 11 July 1983.

Notes

Martin Gore was quoted in the 1983-09-17 issue of NME:

"I think ['Everything Counts'] was partly [inspired by] going to Thailand as well [as the song 'Shame'] — that's where the oriental flavour comes in, like Korea 'n' all that. But you go over there and all the hotels are full of, like, businessmen and basically they tend to treat people as though they're nothing. All they're interested in is their business — that's what I really hate about big business, people just don't seem to matter. Just money. You see all the women over there 'n' they're all prostitutes — that's the only way they can make any money. 'Course, the businessmen love it. Work [will "remove the stains"]. It's no good just sitting back and hoping things'll change, you've got to actually work together. The material's there; it's like, there's enough food in the world to feed everybody and then half the world's eating three quarters of it and the rest of the world's starving. But the food is there. There is a solution. The thing is, the people in power don't care about someone with a low wage, they only care about their own power. But I think people should care about other people, y'know, cos from the moment we're born we're put into competition with everybody else. I really don't understand why people go into politics — what makes someone at 16 or 17 decide to go into parliament? It's got to be people themselves. People's attitudes have got to be changed. For instance, when I wrote "All we need's universal revolution", I didn't mean, like, everyone to take up arms, but more a total change of attitude. That's what's needed. People's attitudes have got to be changed. You've got to look at the world to change things. Attitudes in the world, poverty in the world. The thing is when we talk about socialism, we don't mean "English Socialism" we mean "International Socialism"."

When Depeche Mode was interviewed about the songs on the 101 CD for the April 1989 issue of French magazine Best, Dave Gahan said (translated from French):

"It's one of my favorite songs. It's taken from the Construction Time Again album, which was an important step in our career. That's when we started becoming successful in Europe. At the time, in England, 'Everything Counts' went into the Top 10, but elsewhere, it did not work. That's why we wanted it to be on the live album. The lyrics are timeless. They talk of money, power and corruption."

When Will Arnett asked the band in the Smartless podcast in 2023 what the strange sound at the beginning of the song is, Martin replied: "That was a Chinese violin that we badly sampled, I think", and Dave continued in jest, "Yeah, that we couldn't play. It was an instrument that we couldn't play."

Lyrics


Everything Counts

The handshake seals the contract

From the contract there's no turning back

The turning point of a career

In Korea being insincere

The holiday was fun-packed

The contract, still intact


The grabbing hands grab all they can

All for themselves - after all

The grabbing hands grab all they can

All for themselves - after all

It's a competitive world


Everything counts in large amounts


The graph on the wall

Tells the story of it all

Picture it now, see just how

The lies and deceit gained a little more power

Confidence - taken in

By a sun-tan and a grin


The grabbing hands grab all they can

All for themselves - after all

The grabbing hands grab all they can

All for themselves - after all

It's a competitive world


Everything counts in large amounts


The grabbing hands grab all they can

Everything counts in large amounts


Songwriter: Martin L. Gore
Publishing Information: ©1983 Grabbing Hands Music Ltd/EMI Music Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Music video

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "Everything Counts"
Main article: List of dates where "Everything Counts" was played

Live versions

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


1981-1985: Dreaming Of MeNew LifeJust Can't Get EnoughSee YouThe Meaning Of Love
Leave In SilenceGet The Balance RightEverything CountsLove In ItselfPeople Are PeopleMaster And ServantBlasphemous Rumours / SomebodyShake The DiseaseIt's Called A Heart
1986-1989: StrippedBut Not TonightA Question Of LustA Question Of TimeStrangelove
Never Let Me Down AgainBehind The WheelLittle 15Personal Jesus
1990-1998: Enjoy The SilencePolicy Of TruthWorld In My EyesI Feel YouWalking In My ShoesCondemnationIn Your RoomBarrel Of A GunIt's No GoodHomeUseless
Only When I Lose Myself
2001-2009: Dream OnI Feel LovedFreeloveGoodnight LoversPreciousA Pain That I'm Used To
Suffer WellJohn The Revelator / LilianMartyrWrongPeaceFragile Tension / Hole To Feed
2013-2017: HeavenSoothe My SoulShould Be HigherWhere's The RevolutionGoing Backwards
Cover Me
2023: Ghosts Again
1992-1998: Faith HealerDriftingStalker / Missing Piece
2000-2008: Strange HoursJezebelPreyAllelujah
2003-2008: Dirty Sticky FloorsI Need YouBottle Living / Hold OnA Little PieceKingdomSaw Something / Deeper And Deeper
2012-2015: Longest DayTake Me Back HomeAll Of This And NothingShine
1989-2003: CompulsionStardustLoverman
2012-2015: SpockSingle BlipAftermathsEuropa Hymn • "Pinking" (Christoffer Berg Remix)
Official releases