Everything Counts

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Lore & Background

Depeche Mode had released their previous album, A Broken Frame in late 1982 and supported it with a world tour that lasted through April 1983. During those last few months of the tour, in early 1983, the band started planning their follow-up album, and agreed to record their material at The Garden studios in East London, marking the first time they didn't record their music at Blackwing Studios. They entered the studio to record the new album in May/June of 1983, and "Everything Counts" was the first song released from those sessions, preceding the second single 'Love, in Itself'. The band was still getting used to some of the equipment such as the Synclavier, and the opening "scraping" sound in the song was a deliberate use of the Synclavier's capabilities. Alan Wilder said that the song quickly became an obvious choice to be their next single, with its good sound and lyrics. The band chose to do final mixing for the album in West Berlin at Hansa Studios, partly because of the "exotic atmosphere and Berlin's reputation – mostly artists and bohemian types."

In Their Own Story

The music video for "Everything Counts" was directed by Clive Richardson in West Berlin. The band returned to Richardson after not being satisfied with the work of Julien Temple for the A Broken Frame singles; according to Wilder, "It was felt that after the Julien Temple years, we needed to harden up not only our sound but also our image. Clive had lots of new ideas which didn't involve stupid storyboards where we were required to act." Lead vocalist Dave Gahan later said "'Everything Counts' was the first of our videos with which we were truly happy. The early ones were not representative of us at all. When any of the early films show up on TV, as they do occasionally, we get a bit embarrassed." The music video was made available on later video compilations, including Some Great Videos (1985), the DVD of The Best of Depeche Mode Volume 1 (2006) and Video Singles Collection (2016).

Reader's Guide

Upon its release, Billboard said that there was "a very hard edge to this song, with its dark, cynical lyrics and darker, dissonant synthesizer riffs." In 2017, Billboard included "Everything Counts" on their list of Top 20 Depeche Mode songs, coming in at number 5. Ned Raggett of AllMusic said that "Depeche's proto-industrial/dance/breakbeat anthem still cuts right to the quick, a note-perfect combination of electronic innovation," and complimented Gahan's "increasing abilities with a fuller singing voice." Jason Heller of The A.V. Club described the song as "a clouded pop gem that dissolves from crystalline, sophisticated synthesizer patterns into lullaby-level singsong." The B-side to the single, "Work Hard", called one of the more "experimental" Depeche Mode songs produced to date, was co-written by Martin Gore and Wilder. The studio version or remixes of "Everything Counts" were included on several later Depeche Mode compilation albums, including People Are People (1984), The Singles 81→85 (1985), Greatest Hits (1986), Remixes 81–04 (2004), The Best of Depeche Mode Volume 1 (2006), and Remixes 2: 81–11 (2011).

Did You Know?

• The opening 'scraping' sound in the song was a deliberate use of the Synclavier's capabilities.
• The band chose to do final mixing at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, attracted by the studio's exotic atmosphere and Berlin's bohemian reputation.
• The B-side 'Work Hard' was co-written by Martin Gore and Alan Wilder.
• The music video was directed by Clive Richardson and filmed in London and at the band's studio; Dave Gahan said it was 'the first of our videos with which we were truly happy.'
• A live version of 'Everything Counts' from the Music for the Masses Tour was released as a single in March 1989 and reached No. 22 in the UK.