"Going Backwards" is a song by English

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

band

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

from their fourteenth studio album ''

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

''. It was released as the album's second single on 23 June 2017. The cover art was designed by

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner"' ...

. A physical CD and vinyl release was released on 15 September 2017. A live video was released on 22 June 2017.

Background

Martin Gore Martin Lee Gore (born 23 July 1961) is an English songwriter, musician, singer, record producer and DJ. He is one of the founding members of the electronic rock band Depeche Mode and is the band's main songwriter. He is the band's guitarist an ...

said in an interview with Amazon Music Germany and "an album starts taking shape, for me, really, when you have about four songs together, and we had gone down a cynical path. And I thought, "Okay well, maybe I just gotta go with this." The theme of the song is the idea is about the regression of society as well as technology's role in the regression, but Gore also believed "that new technologies would bring the world together – the world would be united by them. We were all enthusiastic about the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

, when people started organizing themselves with social media and fought for their freedom. But then everything went wrong: the Middle East seems to be falling apart".

Track listing

Personnel

Depeche Mode

David Gahan David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

– lead vocals *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s, backing vocals *

Andy Fletcher Andrew Fletcher may refer to: Government * Andrew Fletcher, Lord Innerpeffer (died 1650), Scottish judge * Andrew Fletcher (patriot) (1655–1716), Scottish writer, politician and patriot * Andrew Fletcher, British Member of Parliament for Hadding ...

– keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals

Other Musicians

* James Ford –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Kurt Uenala,

Matrixxman Matrixxman, otherwise known as Charles M. Duff, is an American electronic musician ''Electronic Musician'' is a monthly magazine published by Future US featuring articles on synthesizers, music production and electronic musicians. History a ...

– programming

Charts

References

External links

Single information from the official Depeche Mode web site

Chart performance in France

Chart Performance in Germany
{{authority control 2017 songs 2017 singles Depeche Mode songs Songs written by Martin Gore Song recordings produced by James Ford (musician) Columbia Records singles