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Love, in Itself Lyrics

All of these insurmountable tasks
That lay before me
All of the firsts and the definite lasts
That lay in store for me

There was a time
When all on my mind was love
Now I find that most of the time
Love's not enough in itself

Consequently, I've a tendency to be unhappy
You see the thoughts in my head
All the words that were said
All the blues and the reds get to me

There was a time
When all on my mind was love
Now I find that most of the time
Love's not enough in itself

All of these absurdities
That lay before us
All of the doubts and the certainties
That lay in store for us

There was a time
When all on my mind was love (love love love)
Now I find that most of the time
Love's not enough in itself
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Cover art for Love, in Itself lyrics by Depeche Mode

I think this song is about getting into your teenage years and facing puberty. The narrator seems to be looking back to himself at a younger age and see what "lays before him" and what "lays in store". Now that he's older he realizes that life is about more that just loving people.

Great DM song with a catchy tune :)

Cover art for Love, in Itself lyrics by Depeche Mode

Wow im surprised that no one has commented on this song.

I think hes trying to say that one time he was just looking for a relationship, maybe because he was pressurized by his friends because they all had girlfriends. But after he realized that in the end it wasn't worth it? shrug

I love the tone of the song :)

Cover art for Love, in Itself lyrics by Depeche Mode

Wow, this is such a personal, relatable thing for us guys out there. I really felt that the first two DM albums sent the wrong message about DM's sexuality in general. Because Vince Clark wrote what I believe to be excellent, but nonetheless homoerotic songs, the three guys+ Alan Wilder were like "We're all straight men in our early 20's. Lets act it" after Clarke left lol. I think CTA was a mature album where all the songs except the very first one dealt with political world issues. This is the very first song. I think this may be a somewhat pessimistic jab at the expected relationship bliss when youre in love. I think Gore's saying that you can still be in love with someone, and they can screw you over to bits. Its what hes learned from his late teens until his early 20's about the mythical magic being in love.

Song Meaning
Cover art for Love, in Itself lyrics by Depeche Mode

Sounds more to me like someone involved in a serious relationship with someone he loves very much and is scared because he is finally coming to terms as to just exactly what that means “all of these insurmountable tasks”.

He's out of his comfort zone with all these 'first' things he's never had to worry about before and feeling deprived by all the lasts he will never get to do again, with someone else ” all of the firsts and the definite lasts”. He's thinking back to when all he thought of was the idealized concept of the relationship 'when all on my mind was love' and realing that being in a serious relationship is not just about being in love with someone, it's a lot of work “love's not enough, in itself”.

So he's basically having a whine and feeling sorry for hisself “consequently, I've a tendency to be unhappy” and has possibly turned to drugs “all the blues and the reds get to me”. So, because he had a naive expectation about what a relationship is like, and it's not what he expected, he's worried about how it's going to last, or not “all of the doubts and the certainties that lay in store for us”.