It Doesn’t Matter – Depeche Mode | Text and Photos by Jude Bautista

Written by

Jude Bautista

My very first album /music purchase was Some Great Reward (1984) by Depeche Mode. I adored every single track from it, all 9 of them. From then on I had the wrong expectation that every album I was going to buy had to have at least 9 songs I liked or appreciated.

Which I realized soon after, was completely unrealistic. The only other album I’ve purchased where I loved every track is U2’s Achtung Baby released seven years later (1991) in CD form.

SM Makati (1984)
Photo from Flickr user potet_jp
https://www.flickr.com/photos/14821404@N03/with/4103957856/

I bought Some Great Reward for P25 at SM Makati, which had the biggest record bar, anywhere. Sales ladies would encourage you to listen to them before you buy. Hand large headphones, or just play it on speakers. Even when I didn’t have money to buy I’d just hang out there. I ended up buying a lot more over time, a habit acquired as a 12 year old.

Hansa Tonstudio

Some Great Reward was the result of the band’s experimentation in sounds, sampling them together. From the sound of a pebble hitting a window frame to hitting kitchen utensils, turning them to something melodic. They specifically sought out HANSA recording Studios in Berlin, which has a renowned reputation for experimentation. Artists like U2, David Bowie, R.E.M, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Iggy Pop made their seminal work in the studio. Incidentally, U2’s Achtung Baby album was also recorded there.

Photo from:
https://www.depmode.com/

IT DOESN’T MATTER is a track you may possibly miss, because of other more popular hits. The track didn’t even have a music video. A slow ballad with synthesizers, nothing like their more obvious love song SOMEBODY, which got a lot of air play here. As Filipinos are addicted to love songs, even now.

Photo from:
https://www.depmode.com/

LDR

IT DOESN’T MATTER lyrics’ perfectly describes what we now call as an LDR – long distance relationship. All the uncertainties of it. At first it feels and sounds like teenage love. But as time went by for me, I could relate to it even well to my age now.

It Doesn’t Matter Two

Although the song was never a fan favorite, Gore made a sequel of sorts when he wrote IT DOESN’T MATTER TWO. The second song is part of the Black Celebration album released (1986).

Photo from:
https://www.depmode.com/

While the first one was more, hopeful in tone. Two was a lot darker. Gore described it as “very desperate, very morbid”. Both versions for me are two sides of the same coin. DM’s unique, unconventional take on love songs. That have stood the test of time to this day. They’re worth a listen, a purchase from the official site. Log on for all things Depeche Mode, you won’t regret it:

https://www.depmode.com/

Lyrics for both songs that can be found below.