Depeche Mode – Wrong

General CommentSounds like it is about the sudden comprehension, that after a lifetime of experience that everything you planned, the goals you worked toward, are worthless cause you were so completely without understanding of what the right things were. For example, if you have spent a lifetime acquiring wealth to support your family and your spouse decides to dump you, all that sacrifice (overtime, stress, put off vacations, etc) was wasted. You had a plan, but the other players had a different playbook, you become a loser in life. This song is so negative; it’s got to ring true to many a depressed soul. I feel worst for having analyzed the lyrics.

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  @inspectormhp

Song Meaning"I was born with the wrong sign
in the wrong house
With the wrong ascendancy"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

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  @laurelinwyntre

My InterpretationThis song is about being predestined in a bad way, and not being able to do nothing but idly watch urself go by a path you don't want to take. Hes saying life ultimately unfolds itself only one way and its the approach we take to make it right or wrong, which is evident in the last part of the song where he repeats everything in the past tense, indicating he has now changed his way.

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  @depechmodefann
  0

  "Made the wrong move every wrong night
  With the wrong tune playing 'til it sounded right, yeah"
  
  These lines make me think of a metaphor...

  Flag Lilian999on May 13, 2009  

General CommentThis song is about bullying. A bully always makes their victim feel as if everything about them is wrong, even when it's absolutely right, and the bullied person start believing it. This can be very devastating emotionally to the point that the bullied person can commit suicide or the bully can kill the bullied person physically, and make it look like an accident.

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  @Ihjk12

General CommentThis song could also be about a person, who was committed a race-based crime against.
The line "I was born with the wrong ascendancy" refers to the English belief in the dominance and supremacy of their race, therefore, the guy in the video is wearing a mask of a typical white Englishman's face, implying that this person's true face is representative of an immigrant from a more "inferior" nation that the English normally cannot tolerate.

The lines "Something wrong with me, inherently, The wrong mix in the wrong genes"...also refers to the fact that some immigrants from poor countries are given a really hard time in more technologically developed countries, and made feel as if everything about them is wrong only because it's different, and they can't measure up to the standards. It's very easy for an alien to become a target for local and other immigrant haters, who constantly want them out of their country.

The self-driving car that has a capacity to drive backwards can symbolize a high technological progress of coutries like the UK, and refers to the idea that immigrants from poor countries are "backwards", and local population has a lot of power over their lives by keeping their hands tied up.

Therefore, if you are a nice person, coutries like the US, UK and the like should probably be avoided because they can easily kill you, if they simply don't like you, and no one will help. They'll be all driving all over you ruthlessly to pursue thier greedy evil goals, in case you accidently get in their way.

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  @Ihjk12
  0

  Ascendancy is also an astrological term, like sign and house en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
  Interestingly enough, per your interpretation of ascendency, house could also mean family. Love them homonyms!

  Flag autoerraticaon April 18, 2013  

My InterpretationLike the lines "With the wrong tune playing till it sounded right". I think its about when you keep making the wrong choices that lead to bad circumstances & you convince yourself its ok, not your fault. Blame it on luck, when you were born, your family, the people you hang out with, anything to take that guilt off yourself. For a lot of people that choice is to do drugs - keep making the same mistakes until you can make them feel ok but it could be anything. Just a thought.

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  @fearsSYNlies
  +2

  That was a very good interpretation.
  I agree! Thanks

  Flag Udahoon August 12, 2009  

General CommentFrom a philosophical standpoint, if Buddha was onto anything when he said desire is the root of suffering, this whole song is, in my flawed perspective ... wrong. Wrongness, specifically, is wrong. This song is the root of suffering, where everything was desired and none of it realized, amounting to optimal disappointment.

This song is about disappointment that it didn't go the way he desired. He passes judgement on everything, and puts himself on the wrong side. What if thinking this way is only guaranteed to drive yourself crazy with depression? "If you want to realize the truth, don't be for or against." Depression leads to a fallacious negative judgement of situations, as well as a feeling of learned helplessness, that one is doomed by their past and powerless to affect their future.

I'm know next to nothing more than simplistic fight club philosophy, but in dealing with my own depression, my way of untaping myself from the wheel of this backwards-driving car is to stop judging things as right or wrong, to ignore the past and future and focus on the moment.

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  @autoerratica

General CommentI find this such a sad song. I think it's about a person whose life is completely screwed up, in part because of his own faults, personal flaws and mistakes he's made because of these flaws, along with being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and constantly making the wrong decisions.

It also seems a little fatalistic, in that the person in question was put on a path destined to fail, one that he was not meant to take.

Anyway, I already love it, can't wait to hear more from the new album

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  @mitten_kitten
  0

  Very uncommercial song, I didn't like it too much when I first heard it. But it grows, really great song!!!

  Flag placebiston February 24, 2009  

  0

  not much to disagree with here. but to add think of a person that was just meant for so much more.

  Flag MidnightRageron February 25, 2009  

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  yeah this one was a creeper (no pun intended) for me too, but I love it now... brilliant...

  Flag necrophageon April 28, 2009  

General CommentAm I the only who finds it ironic and some what fitting that the lyrics to the song are wrong?

The wrong lies on the wrong vibes

should be

wrong eyes on the wrong prize

talking about the afterlife and all that stuff

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  @chefgroovy

General Commentmany have touched on parts of the track and have been right but i feel some of you have missed the mark so to speak. so i've interpreted the song and have given a meaning. keep in my mind this is only my interpretation. i could be wrong...

also keep in mind that you must make this interpretation from the point of view of the title of the album and believe in such things as astrology and fate with a bit of philosophy.

I was born with the wrong sign, in the wrong house
With the wrong ascendancy

- i agree with laurelinwyntre on this one. the stars/heavens play a role in our lives. now to understand this i'll have to go out on a bit of a limb here because one can't be born with the wrong chart. it is what it is. so i believe he was born with the wrong chart because he had the wrong parents or lack thereof. and they playing a major role in how he came to be.

I took the wrong road that led to
The wrong tendencies

- he made the wrong choices in life leading possibly to a life of crime and bad behavior.

I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time
For the wrong reason and the wrong rhyme

- being at the wrong place at the wrong time may refer to his life since he started his wrong path but most likely i believe it refers to the time of his birth. being born under the wrong circumstances. refer to wrong house/sign/ascendecy.

Theres something wrong with me, chemically
Something wrong with me, inherently

- simply referring to the fact that he doesn't function quite normally which leads to frustrations with trying to make it in life.

The wrong mix in the wrong genes
I reached the wrong ends by the wrong means

- adding more to the fact that there are so many negative factors leading to his current situation. and because of his lot in life he chose the wrong means to achieve the wrong goals.

It was the wrong plan in the wrong hands
With the wrong theory for the wrong man

- loreiya touches on some of this. i believe that this person is different. maybe deeply introverted along with a dark past. he may even be misunderstood. this person, i believe, comes close the Byronic Hero [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…] who made some wrong choices due to his circumstances. but for whatever reasons this person is capable of following through with the wrong plans and the wrong man to hold wrong believes about others.

The wrong lies on the wrong vibes
The wrong questions with the wrong replies

- seems that this person is dealing with integrity issues and is asking all the wrong questions and getting the wrong answers.

I was marching to the wrong drum with the wrong scum
Pissing out the wrong energy

- it seems like his mannerisms and way of walking very much matches this song.

Using all the wrong lines and the wrong signs
With the wrong intensity

- he's spewing out all sorts of bad things with what might be hatred behind his words and actions.

I was on the wrong page of the wrong book
With the wrong rendition of the wrong hook

- same old wrong story.

this man's life was simply fated for tragedy. even though he did make his choices in life he had bad luck. in this case every factor that could go wrong did go wrong including this person being a little different/special than the rest of us.

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  @misalignedstars