Welcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Today for our Fifth Sunday A La Mode (when in we feature one of the hundreds of Depeche Mode covers) is in French! Well, the cover is... not the blog. I don't know the language. However, I did get someone who speaks French to listen to the cover and confirm its lyrical consistency in translation for us:
Celluloide - Precious (Depeche Mode)
Precious was the first single from Depeche Mode's eleventh studio album, Playing the Angel, both released in October 2005. Martin Gore has said that the song was about his disintegrating marriage to his first wife, Suzanne Boisvert. They divorced the year following the album release. While he has said the song talks about his regret for how their marriage had become a "charade," the more prominent message was about how the break up was affecting their three children. Gore explained in a German magazine article that "there are other divorce songs on Playing The Angel. Precious is about how my children cope with the divorce - which isn't very well. But the song ends with the verse "I know you learned to trust / keep faith in both of us". All of our songs, even the most depressive ones, contain hope."
The track was a number one hit in many countries, though in the U.S. it only performed well on the dance and alternative charts. It has been covered at least a couple dozen times, and internationally from artists in countries like Greece, Germany, Argentina, Russia, and France.
The French electro-synthpop group Celluloide contributed their cover of Precious to the Electrozombies Webzine compilation titled Ultra > Angel (A Tribute To Depeche Mode), released in in June 2017. As the name implies, the collection only includes covers of tracks from the era spanning Depeche Mode's albums Ultra, Exciter, and, of course, Playing the Angel. Other contributors include Fatal Aim, Parralox, Junksista, Technolorgy, and seven others. Celluloide took an interesting approach to their cover by taking the instrumentation form one of their own songs (Le Baiser Géométrique, translated:"The Geometric Kiss") and transposed each note to make it match the harmonic progression of the original. Meanwhile, frontwoman Darkléti sings the lyrics in French, which she does on other covers they've done (like Bel Canto's Intravenous) but not all (like their 2007 album of covers, Naphtaline L.P., which features songs by Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, Dead Can Dance, Camouflage and eight others, including their previous Depeche Mode tribute, Somebody.)
Theirs is glitchy pop-robotic rendering of Precious with delicate vocals and an innate quality that might sustain and build on that sense of hope Gore had intended to convey. :
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Third Year Anniversary of SeeDarkly Sunday Discoveries! Any Requests? ¯\(◉‿◉)/¯
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
In May, I've two gigs. Check my schedule for details, the RSVP link on Facebook, and other upcoming events and news! ↼‿ಠ
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Apr 22 - Funker Vogt - Get(t) Off (Prince)
Apr 15 - 16 Volt - Turning Japanese (The Vapors)
Apr 08 - Sun Goes Dark - I Know There's Something Going On (Frida)
Apr 01 - Alanis Morissette - My Humps (Black Eyed Peas)
Mar 25 - Night Club - Need You Tonight (INXS)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Today for our Fifth Sunday A La Mode (when in we feature one of the hundreds of Depeche Mode covers) is in French! Well, the cover is... not the blog. I don't know the language. However, I did get someone who speaks French to listen to the cover and confirm its lyrical consistency in translation for us:
Celluloide - Precious (Depeche Mode)
Precious was the first single from Depeche Mode's eleventh studio album, Playing the Angel, both released in October 2005. Martin Gore has said that the song was about his disintegrating marriage to his first wife, Suzanne Boisvert. They divorced the year following the album release. While he has said the song talks about his regret for how their marriage had become a "charade," the more prominent message was about how the break up was affecting their three children. Gore explained in a German magazine article that "there are other divorce songs on Playing The Angel. Precious is about how my children cope with the divorce - which isn't very well. But the song ends with the verse "I know you learned to trust / keep faith in both of us". All of our songs, even the most depressive ones, contain hope."
The track was a number one hit in many countries, though in the U.S. it only performed well on the dance and alternative charts. It has been covered at least a couple dozen times, and internationally from artists in countries like Greece, Germany, Argentina, Russia, and France.
The French electro-synthpop group Celluloide contributed their cover of Precious to the Electrozombies Webzine compilation titled Ultra > Angel (A Tribute To Depeche Mode), released in in June 2017. As the name implies, the collection only includes covers of tracks from the era spanning Depeche Mode's albums Ultra, Exciter, and, of course, Playing the Angel. Other contributors include Fatal Aim, Parralox, Junksista, Technolorgy, and seven others. Celluloide took an interesting approach to their cover by taking the instrumentation form one of their own songs (Le Baiser Géométrique, translated:"The Geometric Kiss") and transposed each note to make it match the harmonic progression of the original. Meanwhile, frontwoman Darkléti sings the lyrics in French, which she does on other covers they've done (like Bel Canto's Intravenous) but not all (like their 2007 album of covers, Naphtaline L.P., which features songs by Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, Dead Can Dance, Camouflage and eight others, including their previous Depeche Mode tribute, Somebody.)
Theirs is glitchy pop-robotic rendering of Precious with delicate vocals and an innate quality that might sustain and build on that sense of hope Gore had intended to convey. :
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Third Year Anniversary of SeeDarkly Sunday Discoveries! Any Requests? ¯\(◉‿◉)/¯
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
In May, I've two gigs. Check my schedule for details, the RSVP link on Facebook, and other upcoming events and news! ↼‿ಠ
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Apr 22 - Funker Vogt - Get(t) Off (Prince)
Apr 15 - 16 Volt - Turning Japanese (The Vapors)
Apr 08 - Sun Goes Dark - I Know There's Something Going On (Frida)
Apr 01 - Alanis Morissette - My Humps (Black Eyed Peas)
Mar 25 - Night Club - Need You Tonight (INXS)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies