The Alternative Number Ones: Depeche Mode’s “Policy Of Truth”

In The Alternative Number Ones, I'm reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988. This column is a companion piece to The Number Ones, and it's for members only. Thank you to everyone who's helping to keep Stereogum afloat.

You should lie. That's the message. On "Policy Of Truth," one of their biggest hits, that is the wisdom that Depeche Mode wish to impart. I've probably heard "Policy Of Truth" hundreds of times over the decades, and I never really paused to consider the lyrics until I sat down to write this column today. Some Depeche Mode songs -- "Fly On The Windscreen," "Master And Servant," "Never Let Me Down Again" -- have lyrics that come right out and grab me. Most of the time, though, I think of Depeche Mode's lyrics as a small, inessential part of their overall vibe. The words are just the sounds that Dave Gahan makes with his mouth, which is why Depeche Mode can get away with occasional clunkiness, as on "People Are People." I have sung along to "Policy Of Truth" many times without pausing to consider what those words mean, but there it is: You should lie.

This is not hidden subtext. Depeche Mode approach the message of "Policy Of Truth" as if it's a manifesto. Martin Gore wrote the whole thing in the second person, with his bandmate Dave Gahan alternately taunting and lecturing us, the listeners. Gahan and Gore want us to know that our devotion to honesty will ruin our lives, if it hasn't already: "You'll see your problems multiplied/ If you continually decide/ To faithfully pursue/ The policy of truth."