New Life

is a song from the 1981 album Speak & Spell by Depeche Mode. It was released as a single on 13 June 1981.
== Notes ==
In May/June 2020, one of Vince Clarke's cousins, named Adam Spector, claimed the following on Facebook:
My brother Paul Spector wrote the lyrics to this song. He didn't want any or got any credit for it. I remember quite clearly Vince "borrowing" them from him. It's about a Chinese Philosopher. I read a whole page about it in a Depeche Mode book and every word about it was true except who wrote it. Vince's highest qualification is in Woodwork and my brother has a Masters Degree in Philosophy from King's College, London. Vince wouldn't be able to explain what it was about other than what he was told by Paul. I did ask Vince for the original, written lyrics back but he said he'd lost them.
thumb|right|x240px|[https://www.facebook.com/groups/1420177971486728/permalink/1587848831386307/ Source]
In July 2020, Adam Spector uploaded a version of 'New Life' on YouTube (video private; audio mirrored below), claiming in the description that his brother Paul wrote the lyrics, with Vince Clarke having written the music. Adam later clarified to DM Live that he was singing vocals in this clip, with Vince playing keyboards. Susan Ryder Paget, who was in the band No Romance In China along with Vince Clarke, posted a comment on Facebook in which she recognizes Vince speaking at the beginning of the recording (seen in the screenshot to the right), and further feels that the ending of the song is characteristic of Vince Clarke's keyboard playing style of the time; this matches up with Vince's keyboard part heard at the end of the song at 1980-11-14 Essex. Additionally, similar keyboard melodies which are heard in this version of 'New Life' are also heard in the only live recording available of Reason Man, around timestamp 1:00. Furthermore, the music of this version strongly resembles "Do You Need The Service?" by Tubeway Army.
Audio extracted from Adam Spector's YouTube video of 'New Life'. Warning: the audio is rather loud, turn down your volume before pressing play.
<html5media>https://media.dmlive.wiki/stream/demos/AdamSpector-NewLife.opus</html5media>
Dave Gahan and Andrew Fletcher in the 1982-01-22 issue of Smash Hits:
Fletcher: "Words were never Vince [Clarke]'s strong point. As a matter of fact, we were sometimes quite embarrassed by his stuff! We didn't understand a lot of his songs. He’d never tell us what they were about!"
Gahan: "I remember walking through town in Basildon one night and I saw these two girls following along behind me. I knew they'd recognised me. And they start singing, [high-pitched squeak] 'I stand still stepping on a shady street'. And I start walking a bit faster, turns me collar up like this! And then... [wails] 'And I watch that man to a stranger.' And I'm thinking: 'Oh no, this is embarrassing! Do they understand these lyrics?! Perhaps they do and we don't!"
== Live performances ==
== Live versions ==
This section provides an example of a live version of New Life from each tour that it was played.
* <sm2>https://media.dmlive.wiki/stream/dm1980-11-14.aud.unknown.unknown.flac1644/09.m4a</sm2> 1980 Tour: 1980-11-14 Technical College, Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England, UK
* <sm2>https://media.dmlive.wiki/stream/dm1981-09-29.preFM-FM.FranceInter.0.flac1644/04.m4a</sm2> 1981 Tour: 1981-09-29 Les Bains Douches, Paris, France
* <sm2>https://media.dmlive.wiki/stream/dm1982-02-10.broadcast.BBCRadio6.rework.flac1648/04.m4a</sm2> 1982 See You Tour: 1982-02-10 BBC Paris Studio, London, England, UK
* <sm2>https://media.dmlive.wiki/stream/dm1982-12-14.sbd.rework.RevA.flac1648/03.m4a</sm2> 1982-1983 A Broken Frame Tour: 1982-12-14 Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht, The Netherlands
* <sm2>https://media.dmlive.wiki/stream/dm1983-10-08.pre-fm+fm.rework.RevA.flac1644/12.m4a</sm2> 1983-1984 Construction Time Again Tour: 1983-10-08 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK
* <sm2>https://media.dmlive.wiki/stream/dm1984-12-09.preFM.WXXP.0.flac1644/04.m4a</sm2> 1984-1985 Some Great Reward Tour: 1984-12-09 Alsterdorf Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Category:Singles
Category:Depeche Mode songs
Category:Depeche Mode singles
Category:Speak & Spell singles
Category:Speak & Spell songs
Category:Songs in D Major
Category:Songs between 155-159 BPM
Category:Songs written by Vince Clarke
<metadesc>"New Life" is a song from the 1981 album Speak & Spell by Depeche Mode. It was released as a single on 13 June 1981.</metadesc>