The Dead Of Night

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4. When The Body Speaks
5. The Dead Of Night
List of Exciter songs
6. Lovetheme
The Dead Of Night
Album-Exciter.jpg
Song The Dead Of Night
By Depeche Mode
Songwriter Martin L. Gore
Produced by Depeche Mode
Mark Bell
Recorded at RAK and Sarm West (London)
Sound Design (Santa Barbara)
Electric Lady
Sony (New York City)
Length (mm:ss) 4:50
Tempo 144 BPM
Time signature 3
4
Key F Minor
Engineered by Gareth Jones
Engineering assistance Boris Aldridge
Andrew Davies
Andrew Griffiths
Nick Sevilla
Lisa Butterworth
Jonathan Adler
Alissa Myhowich
James Chang
Pre-production Gareth Jones
Additional production Gareth Jones
Mixed by Steve Fitzmaurice
Mastered by Mike Marsh
Art direction Anton Corbijn
Photography Anton Corbijn
Sleeve design Form
Recorded June 2000 - February 2001
Originally released 14 May 2001
Live performances as Depeche Mode 85 times *
Total live performances 85 times *

"The Dead Of Night" is a song from the 2001 album Exciter by Depeche Mode.

Notes

Martin Gore told the May 2001 issue of Flaunt magazine that the song was inspired by a club in London called 'Brown's':

"[I]t was a really sad scene. You had three levels - the regular bit downstairs, the slightly VIP but on the second floor, then upstairs the total VIP-VIP bit, which at Brown's was called the Red Room. And you got there, and everyone was taking so many drugs because it was commonly known that it was perfectly cool to take drugs there. So the Red Room for me was the 'Zombie Room', because everyone in there was always talking way too fast, saying nothing and just staring. And while you're there, all these people in the room are your best mates in the world. But the next day, if you bump into one of them on the street, you won't even know their name."

Author Jonathan Miller interviewed producer Mark Bell in 2001, who said:

"We were working on a song called 'The Dead Of Night,' and we were having trouble with the bridge. Martin suggested using a kind of jazz/waltz sample he had, but it sounded like complete sh*t. We were just about to take it off when in walks Airto Moreira! It was really embarrassing, as the song was at its worst, but we still ended up playing him the other songs [Freelove and I Feel Loved]. He came back a week later with his toys and played some brilliant stuff that sat well with the tracks, whereas if it had been someone trying to sell themselves they might have gone completely over the top. [...] We used loads of different synths on 'The Dead Of Night,' messing about with the envelopes and pitch controls. We just went completely silly and it became a jam session. Then, once we found something that worked, we made it into a sort of performance that really suited the song."

Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore said in the Electronic Press Kit:

Andy: "[...] I played a track to a friend of mine who's not really a Depeche Mode fan. I played him a song called 'Dead of Night' and at the end he was going, "That's the darkest song I've ever heard in my whole life!" And I'm sort of thinking, "This is really uplifting!" [laughs] [...]"

Martin: "I think we've always made weird pop and I think this is another great example of that. I think it won't fit in anywhere, but we never have, so that's not particularly a worry. [...]"

Martin Gore said in the May 2001 issue of Keyboard Magazine:

"A lot of the stuff that we used was contemporary, but of course we used a lot of old stuff as well. 'Dead of Night', for instance: A lot of the sounds for that were created with the [EMS] Synthi AKS - even that heavy sound at the beginning, which sounds like a guitar, was actually a synth. A lot of people don't realise that you can get those sorts of sounds out of those keyboards."

Lyrics


The Dead Of Night

We're the horniest boys

With the corniest ploys

Who take the easiest girls

To our sleaziest worlds


With our lecherous plans

In our treacherous hands

You'd be wasting your time

Saying no, it's a crime


All that we live for you'll regret

All you remember we'll forget


We are the dead of night

We're in the zombie room

We're twilight's parasites

With self-inflicted wounds


We are the dead of night

We're in the zombie room

Heavenly oversights

Eating from silver spoons


With our decadent minds

And our innocent lines

You'll be playing our games

With your bodies in flames


When delirious fun

Has seriously begun

You'll be down on your knees

You'll be begging us please


All we're demanding you'll supply

All we're accused of we'll deny


We are the dead of night

We're in the zombie room

We're twilight's parasites

With self-inflicted wounds


We are the dead of night

We're in the zombie room

Heavenly oversights

Eating from silver spoons


Songwriter: Martin L. Gore
Publishing Information: ©2001 EMI Music Publishing Ltd. London WC2H 0EA. Assigned by Grabbing Hands Music Ltd. All rights Reserved.

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "The Dead Of Night"
Main article: List of dates where "The Dead Of Night" was played