Ghosts Again- Memento Mori

Recently, I went to a Depache Mode concert.  Suffice to say, I did not expect what I got.  I have always been somewhat of a fan and always found Dave's (frontman) voice sexy and mysterious so I thought I was getting some sort of dark sexy show.  And it was in some parts.  But I was not expecting to also see and hear dread.  Unbeknownst to me, one of the band members passed away a year ago.  So the conversation of death was present in their new material and having never even heard their new stuff, I felt it.  Especially when they sung "Speak to me", which is dark but full of hope.

But there was another song in their setlist that was also new to me called Ghosts Again.  At first I liked the tune as it reminded me of something from my youth.  Sounded like the group Moenia a bit.  Then I heard it again on my own and it quickly became one of my favorite songs.  The lyrics arent detailed or complex, but hit hard to the reality that we are all going to die one day.  I mean, their album is called Memento Mori, which means, remember we all must die.  It's true.

I dont know if it was the pandemic or the fact that I am getting older or both, but I have lost so many people in the past 3 1/2 years.  People that I wouldnt think it was their time because they werent old.  And they all hurt.  When someone dies, it is always a reminder of how short life can be and how death is inevitable but then time heals you and you forget.

Then someone very close to you dies.  In my case, my father.  He was always there, always present.  Someone who has been there all your life.  Has seen you through everything in your own life, a baby, a child, a teenager, an adult, a mother.... just always there and then... he's not, just gone.  As the song says, "everybody says goodbye".  Because it is true, eventually if you dont leave, you get left behind.  It is just natural and it is inevitable.  There is nothing truer than memento mori.

I leave you with the music video and song.  Below an article and the band's take on the song.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have these past couple of weeks.

February 10, 2023  Music / Premium
Depeche Mode, Ghosts Again: the lyrics & their meaning
Posted by Auralcrave
Ghosts Again is a song released by Depeche Mode in 2023, the first single anticipating their album Memento Mori. It represents the first music officially released after the death of their keyboardist Andy Fletcher in 2022: Depeche Mode are now composed only of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, two survivors dealing with death in their new album. Let’s analyze the meaning of the lyrics and how it fits the latest phase of their career. You will also find the complete lyrics at the end.
You can watch the official video of Ghosts Again below.
Depeche Mode - Ghosts Again (Official Video)
Watch this video on YouTube.
Dealing with death: Ghosts Again, the lyrics and their meaning
Ghosts Again is a song about death and mortality. In the lyrics, Depeche Mode reflects on how life looks temporary, and weightless, when we think about death and how it can suddenly put everything into a different perspective. In the video, Martin Gore and Dave Gahan reenact the historical chess game with the Death from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, a symbol of the impossible challenge for a human to win over death.

The lyrics of Ghosts Again are short and highly symbolic. They describe how things in life can suddenly disappear, break, and vanish. Reflecting on our mortal nature, we realize that one day we will be ghosts (again), dissolving our material consistency.

It’s a series of thoughts that don’t really bring us in any specific direction. If any, they invite us to be less attached to the material things of life: they will all be gone, and they can disappear in a single moment if death comes to visit us. Even faith and love can’t help: inevitably, life will turn into a ghost one day.

The meaning of the lyrics in Ghosts Again, therefore, represents Depeche Mode’s first take on life and death, after Andy Fletcher left the world. Memento Mori, the title of their new album, is a Latin expression meaning “remember you must die,” revealing that death will be a heavy topic of their music in 2023. Let’s wait for more songs and words in the upcoming months.