Going Backwards

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1. Going Backwards
List of Spirit songs
2. Where's The Revolution
Going Backwards
Single-Backwards.jpg
Song Going Backwards
By Depeche Mode
Songwriter Martin L. Gore
Produced by James Ford
Recorded at Sound Design (Santa Barbara)
Jungle City (New York)
Length (mm:ss) 5:43
Tempo 97 BPM
Time signature 4
4
Key B Minor
Programmed by Matrixxman
Kurt Uenala
Engineered by Jimmy Robertson
Mixed by James Ford
Mixing assistance Brendan Morawski
Mastered by 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 23 June 2017
Live performances as Depeche Mode 136 times *
Total live performances 136 times *

"Going Backwards" is a song from the 2017 album Spirit by Depeche Mode. It was released as a single on 23 June 2017.

Notes

Martin Gore told Amazon:

"An album starts taking shape, for me, really, when you have about four songs together, and we had gone down a cynical path. And I thought, "Okay well, maybe I just gotta go with this." Well as I said, it was definitely one of the first songs that I had written, and I think it was actually one of the first songs that we had started working on in the studio. And I think that from an early point we all deep down knew that it would be the first track on the album, so it was an important track. Even though we never regarded it as a single or anything like that, it was more of a statement."

When Neue Zürcher Zeitung hypothesised that "'Going Backwards' is about a civilizational regression where society and technology are developing as fast as never before", Gore replied:

"Yes, but that's just a reason for decay. I have long believed that new technologies would bring the world together — the world would be united by them. We were all enthusiastic about the Arab Spring, when people started organising themselves with social media and fought for their freedom. But then everything went wrong: the Middle East seems to be falling apart."

Dave Gahan told Rolling Stone (archived):

"If we want things to change, a revolution, we need to talk about it and about caring about what goes on in the world. It doesn't seem the way things are in London. We seem to be going in another direction, and I think Martin felt like he needed to express that [with 'Going Backwards']."

Hotmix radio asked Andrew Fletcher about his favourite song of Spirit, and he replied:

"I think it would be '[Going] Backwards'. I don't know why. I've never really given it enough attention, because I do like 'Cover Me' as well, but we open our set with 'Backwards', and it really sounds good."

Lyrics


Going Backwards

We are not there yet

We have not evolved

We have no respect

We have lost control


We're going backwards

Ignoring the realities

Going backwards

Are you counting all the casualties


We are not there yet

Where we need to be

We are still in debt

To our insanities


We're going backwards

Turning back our history

Going backwards

Piling on the misery


We can track it all with satellites

See it all in plain sight

Watch men die in real time

But we have nothing inside

We feel nothing inside


We are not there yet

We have lost our soul

The course has been set

We're digging our own hole


We're going backwards

Armed with new technology

Going backwards

To a caveman mentality


We can emulate on consoles

Killings we can control

With senses that have been dulled

Because there's nothing inside

We feel nothing inside


We feel nothing inside (we feel nothing)

Nothing inside


We feel nothing inside (we feel nothing)

Nothing inside


Because there's nothing inside


Songwriter: Martin L. Gore
Publishing Information: ©2015 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)

Music video

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "Going Backwards"
Main article: List of dates where "Going Backwards" 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