Two Minute Warning

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Two Minute Warning
Song	Two Minute Warning
By	Depeche Mode
Songwriter	Alan Wilder
Produced by	Daniel Miller Depeche Mode
Recorded at	The Garden (London)
Length (mm:ss)	4:13
Tempo	111 BPM
Time signature	4 4
Key	G Minor
Engineered by	Gareth Jones
Tonmeister	Gareth Jones
Mixed at	Hansa Mischraum
Mastered by	Christian Stegmaier
Design	Martyn Atkins Town & Country Planning
Illustrations	Ian Wright
Originally released	22 August 1983
Live performances as Depeche Mode	125 times *
Total live performances	125 times *

"Two Minute Warning" is a song from the 1983 album Construction Time Again by Depeche Mode.

Notes

Alan Wilder said in the Q&A on Shunt: "It was about the nuclear arms race of the eighties."

In the 1983-08-20 issue of Sounds Magazine, he also said:

It's almost surreal – the possibility of a nuclear holocaust is so terrifying, but to actually turn it round and try to make it beautiful – and the tune is very light and bouncy – is more of a challenge than making it doomy. I really like the idea of people humming "Two Minute Warning" without realising what it's about.

Lyrics

Two Minute Warning

We're lying by the orange sky

Two million miles across the land

Scattered to the highest high

Expect they'll either laugh or cry

No sex, no consequence, no sympathy

You're good enough to heat

Two minute warning

Two minutes later

When time has come

My days are numbered

The dawning of another year

Marks time for those who understand

One in four still here

While you and I go hand in hand

No radio, no sound, no sin, no sanctuary

So welcome to your last

The sun, the solitude, the cemetary

So welcome to your last

Songwriter: Alan Wilder
Publishing Information: ©1983 RCA Music Ltd. All rights reserved.

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "Two Minute Warning"

Main article: List of dates where "Two Minute Warning" was played