See You

"**See You**" is the first track and the first single on Depeche Mode's second studio album, *A Broken Frame*. It was released on January 29, 1982.

## Background

The single launched a small world tour, with extra band member Alan Wilder, although he did not contribute to the song or the album. There are three versions of "See You" – the 7" single version (3:55), the album version (4:34), and an extended 12" version with a longer intro (4:50). The "Extended Version" and the "Album Version" are almost the same. The "Album Version" fades out about 20 second before the 12" remix does.

It was the first single written by Martin Gore. To promote the track to radio stations, the record company sent customized compact mirrors.

The B-side to "See You" is "Now, This Is Fun". The track wasn’t commercially released in the United States. The extended version has a longer bridge in the middle and an extended ending, with Dave Gahan sometimes shouting "This is funny!" instead of "This is real fun!" Before release, "Now, This Is Fun" was called "Reason For Fun".

Daniel Miller wrote in the sleeve notes for the A Broken Frame Remaster CD in 2006: *"Martin had brought a PPG, one of the first digital keyboards. It was called a wave table synth and was pretty advanced for its time, but very unreliable. We got some sounds on it that we wouldn’t have otherwise got — the choir sound on ‘See You’ came from that."*

Martin Gore told Kingsize magazine in May 2001: "Do I feel any affection for things like 'See You'? Not really, no. It was the first song I wrote after Vince left, and I think I was just trying to copy his style. It was a nightmare recording because we still lived in Basildon and caught the last train back from London. It was always a dodgy train, full of drunkards, and we always got into fights, sometimes because we were recognized, but usually it was just pure Essex violence!"; "[See You} was the first single I’d written, although it had been around a long time. I wrote it when I was 17. So when Vince [Clarke] left, it seemed quite a good single to do, a nice commercial one."

## Music video

The video for "See You" was directed by Julien Temple. It was also the first video with Alan Wilder. He can be seen briefly playing the piano and he also appears in several photo booth strips. The first part of the video was filmed at Hounslow railway station in London. At the beginning of the video there is a speakerphone, much like the one on the cover of *Music for the Masses*, released five years later. The band did not like the video, and it did not show up on the 1985 video compilation *Some Great Videos*, which included the band's videos up to 1985 except the "A Broken Frame" singles and "Get the Balance Right!".

## Lyrics

(All I wanna do is...)

All I want to do is see you again

Is that too much to ask for?

I just want to see your sweet smile

Smiled the way it was before

Well, I'll try not to hold you and I'll try not to kiss you

And I won't even touch you

All I wanna do is see you

Don't you know that it's true?

I remember the days when we walked through the woods

We'd sit on a bench for a while

I treasure the way we used to laugh and play

And look in each other's eyes

You can keep me at a distance if you don't trust my resistance

But I swear I won't touch you

All I wanna do is see you

Don't you know that it's true?

Well I know five years is a long time

And that times change (That times change)

But I think that you'll find

People are basically the same (Basically the same)

If the water's still flowing, we can go for a swim

And do the things we used to do

And if I'm reluctant you can pull me in

And we can relive our youth

Ah, but we'll just stay friendly like sister and brother

Though I think I still love you

All I wanna do is see you

Don't you know that it's true?

All I wanna do is... (See you)

## Bibliography

* https://dmlive.wiki/wiki/See\_You
* https://genius.com/Depeche-mode-see-you-lyrics
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See\_You\_(Depeche\_Mode\_song)