DEPECHE-MODE-Song of the week: “Personal Jesus”

Automatic translation. Improvements are constantly being worked on.

First release: August 29, 1989
Playing time: 03:44 minutes

13 facts:

– The simple cover shows the initials of Depeche Mode on a black background. Behind them is a horizontal blue-grey stripe. The title “Personal Jesus” is written at the bottom in the same color.

– According to Martin Gore, the song “Personal Jesus” is about the relationship between Elvis and Priscilla Presley. As her mentor and husband, Elvis was like a god to Priscilla. He was inspired by Priscilla’s autobiography “Elvis and Me”.

– Musically, it’s a little rougher than usual. This is mainly due to the John Lee Hooker guitar riff, which is mixed with synths reminiscent of Kraftwerk.

– The pounding sound is the recording of several people jumping off a flight case.

– The B-side contains the 04:22 minute track “Dangerous”.

– The press photos of Depeche Mode are deliberately provocative: Dave, Martin, Alan and Andy pose with a naked woman, which is of course immediately regarded as blasphemy in the context of the title “Personal Jesus”. In any case, Depeche Mode are making a name for themselves …

– In the newspaper ads you can call “Your own personal Jesus…”. Anyone who actually does this will hear an excerpt from the single.

– The single reached number 13 in the UK charts and number 28 in the US Billboard Top 100. Top 10 placements were achieved in: Finland (9), Ireland (5), Switzerland and Germany each at number 5, and Spain and Italy even at number 3!

– “Personal Jesus” is the first Depeche Mode single to achieve gold status overseas.

– “Personal Jesus” is the band’s third most popular song on Spotify with over 153,000,000 plays.

– The title track appears on the 12″ in the “Holier than Thou Approach Mix” (05:49) and the “Acoustic Version” (03:27). In addition, there is also “Dangerous” in the “Sensual Mix” (05:22).

– “Personal Jesus” was covered by Johnny Cash in 2002. Other well-known cover versions come from Marilyn Manson (2004), Def Leppard (2018) and Nina Hagen (2010).

– So far, “Personal Jesus” has been played live 1,067 times. This puts the track in third place among Depeche Mode’s most played live songs.

Listen to “Personal Jesus” in our “Electronic Rock” playlist on Spotify: