As someone who enjoys the music of Depeche Mode, I would love to think that they aren't oppressing anyone.
Too bad for me!
Depeche Mode is frequently guilty of oppression in the form of powerlessness.
Part of making people powerless is through--you guessed it--SILENCE.
Image from: martingore.proboards.com
Wait, isn't this just a romantic song about a love that is so intense that they have/need no words to express it? Maybe? I wish. And it COULD be that. But I need to step away from this as a fan and examine it from a critical point of view.Too bad for me!
Depeche Mode is frequently guilty of oppression in the form of powerlessness.
Part of making people powerless is through--you guessed it--SILENCE.
ENJOY THE SILENCE
Words like violence break the silence
Come crashing in, into my little world
Painful to me, pierce right through me
Can't you understand, oh my little girl?
All I ever wanted, all I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm
Words are spoken to be broken
Feelings are intense, words are trivial
Pleasures remain, so does their pain
Words are meaningless and forgettable
All I ever wanted, all I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm
X3
Enjoy the silence
X3
Songwriters
GORE, MARTIN LEE
Published by
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
There are quite a few issues with this song.
This is told only from the singer's perspective. We can't know if the feeling is really mutual unless we hear from both parties involved. In fact, it may be argued that if he thinks the words will "come crashing in" to ruin his perfect world, that perhaps he knows that any words would be words of objection. The whole point of the song, it could be argued, is to eliminate any potential dissent.
Note also that he uses the word "I" instead of "we." That could be a sign that he is really in it for his own needs, not for the both of them.
Additionally, by saying, "Can't you understand, oh my little girl?" the singer is implying that she:
1. Doesn't understand, probably because she is simple-minded
2. Is his property
3. Is small, probably unimportant (except to him)
4. Is child-like, reliant upon others to take care of her and make decisions for her
Infantilizing someone like this is definitely a move to put them in less of a position of power.
The singer says that anything that could be said by the other person is "trivial," "forgettable," "meaningless," and will only "do harm." This is forcing powerlessness upon the other person. She is told, under the guise of romance, that her words don't matter. It is better for her to not speak at all.
She should enjoy the silence-- the powerlessness.
It's also worth mentioning that the imagery in the music video is him as a king, as showed above. This is important to consider, because people cannot question the king. The king can do what he wants, and enjoy the silence--the lack of power to question him--of his subjects.
I think we can agree that this is wrong. After all, silence is not consent!
gif from solarstation.tumblr.com
And this is just one example of Depeche Mode's oppression through forcing powerlessness upon others. I won't get too in-depth here, but just to make my point, let's look at some other questionable DM moments...
BLUE DRESS
Put it on
And don't say a word
Put it on
The one that I prefer
Put it on
And stand before my eyes
Put it on
Please don't question why
Can you believe
Something so simple
Something so trivial
Makes me a happy man
Can't you understand?
Say you believe
Just how easy
It is to please me
Because when you learn
You'll know what makes the world turn
Put it on
I can feel so much
Put it on
I don't need to touch
Put it on
Here before my eyes
Put it on
Because you realize
And you believe
Something so worthless
Serves a purpose
It makes me a happy man
Can't you understand
Say you believe
Just how easy
It is to please me
Because when you learn
You'll know what makes the world turn
Songwriters
GORE, MARTIN
Published by
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
gif from wulztan.tumblr.com
It COULD be the singer marveling at the beauty of his lover in his favorite dress of hers.
But it could also be silencing a woman, once more, because all he needs from her is her beautiful appearance. It appears that he has selfish motives, saying that she should do this just to please him and not question why.
Then then there's this gem... I'm not posting the whole song, just clips from it.
MASTER AND SERVANT
...
Forget all about equality
Let's play master and servant
...
It's a lot like life
And that's what's appealing
If you despise, then throw away feeling
...
Domination's the name of the game
In bed or in life
They're both just the same
Except in one you're fulfilled
At the end of the day
Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant
...
Songwriters
Gore, Martin
Published by
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
gif from depechemodegifs.tumblr.com
I don't think I need to explain this one.
And I don't have to stop there. Take my word for it, I could probably show you oppression in almost all of their songs.
So, how can I still be a fan of Depeche Mode?
I think the important thing is that I am aware of the dark nature of a lot of their music, and I choose not to make the darkness a part of how I live my life, even though I choose to continue to listen to it.
And as I hinted at before, I could also give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to some of their songs. We can choose how to interpret things sometimes--maybe it is totally creepy, but maybe it is actually just supposed to be romantic.
It may be a stretch, but you get what I'm saying.
Basically, I enjoy their sound and tune out a lot of the lyrics. Call it a guilty pleasure, if you will. But if we were truly going to limit ourselves to media that included NO oppression whatsoever, I honestly don't think we could find anything to watch, read, or listen to. Sometimes, we have to just ignore the crappy facts of the things we enjoy. Whether or not that's morally acceptable, I'm honestly not sure. Many times I have wondered whether or not I should even listen to Depeche Mode, but despite my reservations, I still do.
What do you think? Are guilty pleasures just a part of life? Or do we have the moral responsibility to identify and reject anything that contains or may contain oppressive material?
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