# Must I be gay to appreciate Depeche Mode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2005, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037 "2005-10-13T07:28:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/21 "2005-10-13T16:38:01Z")
I always thought that Depeche Mode sounded like hypersensitive angst-ridden tormented gays, so much so that a lot hypersensitive angst-ridden tormented gays probably thought “My God, those guys are such hypersensitive angst-ridden tormented gays!” THEN I realized this is a difference between “Gay”, and “Geh”. And sorry, but to me much of DM music is “geh”. Except for one song which I cannot recall. but it rocks. (It’s not “Strange Love”, ironic as that would be- though I don’t hate that as much as I hate most other DM songs.) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/22 "2005-10-13T16:43:07Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > So maybe some of the straight guys who like DM are in danger of catching … The Girl! Hey, if I can get a girlfriend by listening to Depeche Mode, I’ll go buy everything else they came out with (I’ve already got Violator.) Depeche Mode is also the source of my best comeback to street proselytizers. The exchange generally goes something like this: Q: Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? A: Yes, I agree. Violator is Depeche Mode’s best album. Then you walk away while leaving them looking confused. ---
**Author:** ![Glassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Glassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/23 "2005-10-13T16:46:05Z")
How 'bout **New Order**? I love them. Am I gay? (Why didn’t I think of this question for the Ask the 50’s Mom thread?) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/24 "2005-10-13T16:56:27Z")
> [@Glassy](#): > > How 'bout **New Order**? I love them. Am I gay? > > (Why didn’t I think of this question for the Ask the 50’s Mom thread?) Nope. I’ve got them too. Sexual compass needle still pointing toward vagina’s. ---
**Author:** ![Glassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Glassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/25 "2005-10-13T17:00:46Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Sexual compass needle still pointing toward vaginas. I’ve never heard it called that before. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/26 "2005-10-13T17:20:54Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Except for one song which I cannot recall. but it rocks. (It’s not “Strange Love”, ironic as that would be- though I don’t hate that as much as I hate most other DM songs.) I’m sure it was _Enjoy the Silence_. That, or you’re thinking of _Rio_ by Duran Duran. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/27 "2005-10-13T21:01:31Z")
Hee. When I saw this thread, I had _Strangelove_ playing on the computer. [/random comment] ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/28 "2005-10-14T19:32:38Z")
Exhibit A: The (incomplete) lyrics to **What’s Your Name?** > [@](#): > > Everybody seems to look your way now > (Everybody seems to look your way) > Everybody wants to know your name > (Hey, hey, what’s your name) > Feeling bright just tonight > Hear them say you’re out of sight > > Hey you’re such a pretty boy (you’re so pretty) > Hey you’re such a pretty boy (you’re so pretty) > Hey you’re such a pretty boy > You’re so pretty (P-R-E, double-T-Y) This song is actually too gay for gays though. This takes the bus and sleeps through the rainbow connection onward to some kind of pink mobius strip never to return to gaysville. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/29 "2005-10-14T22:49:14Z")
I like Depeche Mode, and I’m very straight, though a bit weird. I don’t listen to them much anymore, but I used to listen to the album with “Master and Servant” all the time. Now this thread is making me want to hear some DM, dammit, and I lost all my records! BTW, have you all heard the Johnny Cash version of “Personal Jesus?” You’d think it would be a cheesy novelty act, but it’s actually quite good, IMO. Cash turns it into a straight-forward gospel song. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/30 "2005-10-14T22:55:38Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > This song is actually too gay for gays though. This takes the bus and sleeps through the rainbow connection onward to some kind of pink mobius strip never to return to gaysville. We should point out that “What’s Your Name” (along with “Boys Say Go!”) is a Vince Clarke classic. Not applicable as of January 1982. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/31 "2005-10-15T01:36:45Z")
I think DM are very manly… after all, they combat an opponent who is punching, kicking, and shouting by relying on the opponent’s common decency. What is more macho than that? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/32 "2005-10-15T06:19:02Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > If he really wanted to be clear, he could have said “I put on some Queen to get rid of the gay.” Queen and Judas Priest both had one gay band member. ---
**Author:** ![Squee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Squee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squee)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/33 "2005-10-15T06:47:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Queen and Judas Priest both had one gay band member. Well, duh, I thought that was the point he was trying to make… 🙂 I like some DM songs, and I don’t think that makes me as a gay as a leather pinata. Though some might argue it makes me “ghey”. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/34 "2005-10-15T11:53:43Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > We should point out that “What’s Your Name” (along with “Boys Say Go!”) is a Vince Clarke classic. Not applicable as of January 1982. Isn’t everything on Speak and Spell except Tora! Tora! Tora! by Vince? Martin didn’t really start writing songs until Vince left. Apart from the awful What’s Your Name, the rest of Vince’s material on S&S is quite ok. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/35 "2005-10-15T17:19:38Z")
Martin also wrote the instrumental “Big Muff” on that album. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/36 "2005-10-17T16:58:51Z")
Check out a pre-Dharma Jenna Elfman in the “Halo” video. There’s a scene with two girls dancing. She’s the tall one (duh!). ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037/37 "2005-10-18T01:27:13Z")
Also, be sure to check out their new album [Playing the Angel](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000B9EY2U/qid=1129598779/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-0072940-3453561?v=glance&s=music&n=507846), out now in Europe and released tomorrow in the United States! It’s excellent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-i-be-gay-to-appreciate-depeche-mode/326037.md?page=1)