The handshake seals the contract from the contract
There's no turning back
The turning point of a career in Korea, being insincere
The holiday was fun packed
The contract still intact

The grabbing hands
Grab all they can
All for themselves after all
The grabbing hands
Grab all they can
All for themselves after all

It's a competitive world
Everything counts in large amounts

The graph on the wall
Tells the story of it all
Picture it now
See just how the lies and deceit
Gained a little more power
Confidence taken in by a sun tan and a grin

The grabbing hands
Grab all they can
All for themselves after all
The grabbing hands
Grab all they can
All for themselves after all

It's a competitive world
Everything counts in large amounts
Everything counts in large amounts

The grabbing hands
Grab all they can
Everything counts in large amounts
The grabbing hands
Grab all they can
Everything counts in large amounts

Everything, everything
Everything, everything

The grabbing hands
Grab all they can
Everything counts in large amounts
The grabbing hands
Grab all they can
Everything counts in large amounts


Lyrics submitted by gasmask, edited by Apikaila1018

Everything Counts Lyrics as written by Martin Gore

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Everything Counts song meanings
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24 Comments

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  • +10
    Song Meaning

    You people are reading too much into it. I have read many places that this song was their summary of the recording industry, exemplifying all the greed, insincerity and unwarranted self-reverence major labels have for themselves. The Korea line was simply because they were wined and dined especially well (c/o the record company of course) while a world tour of theirs had a few stops over there.

    MrSteve1337on October 08, 2010   Link
  • +7
    Song Meaning

    This song is simply about corporate greed and corruption. A popular theme in the money grabbing 1980s.

    DJDiscoon April 23, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    it's about gluttony and indulgence, you greedy bastards!!

    roger wilcoon June 06, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I heard this song as a teenager on my FM stereo Walkman in the back seat of the family car from some college station around Hartford, CT while going to pick up my grandparents at the airport who were visiting us. It was around 1982, & I only knew DM from their 1st album, Speak & Spell. Wow! I thought. DM has really changed their sound (harder edged & more industrial), gotten more outspoken about real life...I love DM again! "Everything Counts" summed up the attitude of the '80s: Those Who Die W/the Most Toys Wins. Reagan was the pres. The government was right-wing conservatives w/a "let's have a war" bent, i.e. our fed. gov't sold arms to the wrong side! Like the Iranians, the Contras in El Salvador-all this & Reagan joked, "We will begin bombing in 5 min." :P Kids feared nuclear war in the '80s. But money & status was the ticket to joy, thought social climbers a/k/a Yuppies. I worked in Sales support w/younger mindsets my age. Where did I go wrong, LOL? I was a big DM fan, down to wearing black, w/odd haircuts & Manic Panic-even combat boots and a black trench coat! Call me "AntiYup" because this song predicated how I would become as an free-thinking, non-status-seeking BBWinB (Big Beautiful Woman in Black) in my 20's & 30s.

    pharmageekon August 19, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Easily Depeche Mode's best song.

    Cam-winon December 30, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think they used "Korea" just for the rhyme. However, a great song.

    phlegmaton February 27, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    What about Enjoy The Silence?

    drowninyoursleepon May 26, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    You have to listen to this track from the Mode101 live album. Especially, the last part of the song when the whole stadium sings "the grabbing hands grab all they can, everything counts in large amounts." AWESOME! Wish I was there...

    Mode000on July 01, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    the video for this song is crazy .. martin gore gets all funky with his dance style

    numbon March 31, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think they used Korea because this song is about the greedy, back-stabbing nature of capitalism, and Korea is where a lot of mass-produced products are manufactured, with little regard to the well-being of the proletariat manufacturing those products. This song was written in the early 80's when the yuppie infestation was at it's peak...

    Nexus7on March 06, 2005   Link

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