On Blasphemous Rumors

This article is going to be about a song called "Blasphemous Rumours" by Depeche Mode. I wanted to make it in English, since it was even very hard to find explanation and the feelings depicted by the listeners regarding this song in english, so I doubt that it would be hard to find a comprehensive explanation about this song in turkish.

This is the link of the song, if you wanna listen, just click:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZRGPg5laDU 

Lyrics of the first part:

Girl of sixteen, whole life ahead of her Slashed her wrists Bored with life, didn't succeed Thank the Lord for small mercies
Fighting back the tears, mother reads the note again Sixteen candles burn in her mind She takes the blame, it's always the same She goes down on her knees and prays

In the middle of puberty, probably as a high school student, this little girl started to be exposed pressure by her family or teachers about the courses or university entrance exams. As a puberty, she probably did not want to focus on the courses, as she was trying to know her being. At one point, she could not resist the pressure and tried to kill herself. As we can understand from the lyrics, it was a failure. After that, If I were her, I would not care anyone at that point, even after I was rescued, since I was already in a logic that brought me to end my life.

She accepted her fault and started to move on her life. She probably saw a light or a similar thing and experienced a revival to religion. Similar stories are told here in Turkey. People start to feel something spiritual when they go to Makka or you know, face the death. Some even turn 180 degree around suddenly, inexplicably. One of the famous people come to my mind is Yasar Alptekin.

You may also realize the sarcasm of the author, members of Depeche Mode, since they thank the lord for small mercies which is a pity since they just underestimate the life's small beauties. Actually, I think small beauties come together and what we call life is shown up.

Lyrics of the second part:

Girl of eighteen fell in love with everything Found new life in Jesus Christ Hit by a car ended up On a life support machine Summer's day as she passed away Birds were singing in the summer sky Then came the rain and once again A tear fell from her mother's eye

In this part, we can see the continuing stories of our little girl, who became 18. She probably started her college life, left behind all the unnecessary exams, classmates and many unnecessary details and made a fresh start with religious perspectives. Out of the blue, she was hit by a car and lost her life after struggling to stay alive for a while. In the fall, the weather conditions made her mom upset, since the sun was far away, there was all the darkness in the air and in herself. This is actually both quite ironic and dramatic. This story seems very unique or rare, but given the population of earth, we can easily assume that these kind of dramatic stories are happening quite often. There may be millions of families experiencing similar conditions. Of course, it is a small number compared to world's population, but still millions are very high. At that point, you start to question the God's authority, his purpose, the purpose of life and even the existence of the god.

Lyrics of the middle part:

I don't want to start Any blasphemous rumors But I think that God's Got a sick sense of humor And when I die I expect to find Him laughing

This is obviously a rebellion against so-called God. The story in this song is quite depressing. At the beginning, 16-year-old girl is tired of living and tried to kill herself. She was saved and she became religious to thank the God, then she dies as if it was a joke from God. Besides, as we know from other Depeche Mode songs, the members are atheists. They could not handle the religious miracles and stories. When you put these things together, you see how grotesque the life of our little girl.

A twist of fate, Dave Gahan, vocalist of Depeche Mode, experienced similar situation in his 30's, but "thank God" he survived.

By the way, this song is released in 1984, and Dave Gahan was only 22. I think after the age 20, until 26'ish, people start to question the religious authority and find very meaningless and incomplete puzzles. If you are smart enough, the process will be faster.

Actually, I have experienced the similar situtation and made my decision already. But, nowadays, I think that money might bring happiness. At least, many of my dreams unfortunately include the money. I keep saying that if I would have million dollar, I probably would not work and live happily by reading and spending my time with my hobbies. But, since the members are earning a lot of money, they still suffer. Money does not buy happiness is also proven here.