Fail

Album: Spirit (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Keyboardist and guitarist Martin Gore wrote the majority of the lyrics for Spirit, in which he expresses his distress at the way humanity has lost its way. "Spirit relates to so much that is going on in the world," he explained to The Sun. "Although a lot of the songs were written before Brexit or Trump taking power, there was already a feeling that the world was in a mess. I couldn't write an album without addressing that. It felt wrong to turn my back on it and write about other things."

    He added: "The final song, Fail, talks about losing our spirit and how we've failed and includes my favorite line 'We are f---ed.'"
  • Gahan explained the record's title to Rolling Stone. "We called the album Spirit, because it's like, 'Where's the spirit gone?' or 'Where's the spirit in humanity?'" he said. "We considered calling it Maelstrom – that was a bit too heavy metal."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Leslie West of Mountain

Leslie West of MountainSongwriter Interviews

From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen.

Zakk Wylde

Zakk WyldeSongwriter Interviews

When he was playing Ozzfest with Black Label Society, a kid told Zakk he was the best Ozzy guitarist - Zakk had to correct him.

Michael Bolton

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.

Name the Character in the Song

Name the Character in the SongMusic Quiz

With a few clues (Works at a diner, dreams of running away), can you name the character in the song?

Colbie Caillat

Colbie CaillatSongwriter Interviews

Since emerging from MySpace with her hit "Bubbly," Colbie has become a top songwriter, even crafting a hit with Taylor Swift.

Todd Rundgren

Todd RundgrenSongwriter Interviews

Todd Rundgren explains why he avoids "Hello It's Me," and what it was like producing Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album.