"People Are People" is Depeche Mode's 10th UK single, and was recorded at Hansa Mischraum in West Berlin, and released on 12 March 1984. It was their first hit single in the US and the first single from the Some Great Reward album.
Song information
As with many Depeche Mode songs, the band members see different meanings in "People Are People". According to Martin Gore, the song is about racism. Alan Wilder adds that it could also be about war. "People Are People" was written by Martin Gore, but the dancy, pop feel of the song may be credited to Alan Wilder. Wilder wrote the B-side, "In Your Memory". Each song has an extended remix, the "Different Mix" and the "Slik Mix" respectively. It was one of the first songs recorded for the album when sessions began at the Hansa Mischraum studio in January 1984. "This was the first song of ours that made a dent, really, into popular radio," said Dave Gahan in 2017. "We were using all these tape loops to create rhythms and the technology was quite advanced, but it wasn’t anything like it is today, the things that you can do. We used to go into studios, and the first thing we’d do, we’d ask where the kitchen was — literally for pots and pans and things that we could throw down the stairs, and record the rhythms they would make crashing around, and then make it into loops." The Clive Richardson-directed "People Are People" video was released in two versions. The original video was made for the single version, but an alternate video was made with the "Different Mix". The music video featured footage of various military scenes from the Cold War, mixed with footage of the band aboard HMS Belfast and of a record press. The "Different Mix" video appears on Some Great Videos and Video Singles Collection. Despite the song's success, Martin Gore considers it one of his least favourite songs. He prefers his songs to have subtle metaphors to allow people to find their own meanings to his songs, and feels "People Are People" does not fit that description. In 1990, he listed the song among some of the music he "regrets", calling "People Are People" "too nice, too commercial." It has not been played live since 1988.
Album release
A compilation album titled People Are People was released in the US, featuring several songs not previously available. The single itself was released in the USA on 11 July 1984, though it did not reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart until May 1985, and initially was played only on modern rock and college radio. The single would eventually peak at no. 13. In the UK, the single reached number 4, which was at the time the band's highest singles chart position in their homeland. Since then, "Barrel of a Gun" and "Precious" have also reached number 4 in the UK. In West Germany, the song was a no. 1 hit and was used as the theme to West German TV's coverage of the 1984 Olympics, alluding to East Germany's participation in the Soviet-led boycott of the games. It was also used as the theme song of the 1990s BBC Children's factual TV series, It'll Never Work?. In 2011 the song was included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
"In Your Memory" is falsely labeled as the "Slik Mix Edit"
CD: Mute / CDBong5 (UK)
"People Are People" – 3:43
"In Your Memory" – 4:01
"People Are People " – 7:11
"In Your Memory " – 8:12
Charts
Weekly charts
Chart
Peak position
Australia
25
Chart
Peak position
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
RuPaul version
's version of the song was recorded in 2004 for the studio albumRed Hot. His version, which features Tom Trujillo, was released as a retail single on 26 January 2006 to promote the remix album ReWorked. It peaked at No. 10 on the BillboardHot Dance Club Play chart.
