Depeche Mode – Useless

"Useless" as written by and Martin Gore....
Well it's about time
It's beginning to hurt
Time you made up your mind
Just what is it all worth

All my useless advice
All my hanging around
All your cutting down to size
All my bringing you down

Watch the clock on the wall
Feel the slowing of time
Hear a voice in the hall
Echoing in my mind

All your stupid ideals
Got your head in the clouds
You should see how it feels
With your feet on the ground

Here I stand the accused
With your fist in my face
Feeling tired and bruised
With the bitterest taste

All my useless advice
All my hanging around
All your cutting down to size
All my bringing you down

All your stupid ideals
Got your head in the clouds
You should see how it feels
With your feet on the ground


Lyrics submitted by gasmask

"Useless" as written by Martin Gore

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Useless song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +2
    General CommentObviously written by Martin with David in mind.
    canadalotuseateron April 18, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI think it's about Alan too... this song is mostly guitars/drums - not much keyboard on it - an obvious attack on Alan ;)
    blynxon February 22, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Commentwell that makes it a little odd because david is singing and not martin... so why would he sing a song about himself that martin had written? but i do see where your coming from...

    anyways, this is a great song. its airy but forceful at the same time. although not much happened in the video, i think it was one of the better dm videos.
    saturnineon June 12, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General CommentMust be because of lack of competition in the quality DM videos catagory. The greatest songs, the worst videos.

    The lyrics of the song fit perfectly with the first post, having David sing it makes sense because Martin likes to sing songs that are meaningful to him, this one was for David. And the voice difference, this song definately is much better off because David did sing it.
    jokeR`afkon June 21, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General CommentJoker, did you notice in the video that that Useless is displyed as " Use Less" - gives a new meaning. Things aren't always what they seem hey.
    scarface-manon March 08, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI think it's about Alan too... this song is mostly guitars/drums - not much keyboard on it - an obvious attack on Alan ;)
    blynxon February 22, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentAgreed, it seems to be directed to Alan.
    Idle_talkeron July 21, 2007   Link
  • 0
    My InterpretationTo me, the "you" and "me" is actually the same person...the same person talking to themself. The person is trapped in a rut of shame and self-loathing, beating themself up and feeling useless. This kinda fits with Freestate later on the album, which is about letting go and recovering from it.
    Outruneon December 09, 2008   Link
  • 0
    My InterpretationI think it sound like the singer is portraying a person berating [the singer] about having "stupid ideals' and "having his head in the clouds" basically ripping any of his dreams and aspirations away and should come down to earth and be "normal" like everyone else, and how that feels.
    darkgoth69on September 25, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General CommentMeaning of this is obvious. It is about being a politician - a decision-maker or even a teacher for instatnce. A politician who is constantly being criticised by people whatever he does, for example in situation when he has tied hands by difficult situation. Just my 3cents.
    StarRatson March 15, 2015   Link

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