Synopsis

Depeche Mode perform "Blasphemous Rumours" in a shadowy, industrial setting. The video favors stark close-ups, obscured faces, heavy contrast, and images of the band working with metallic surfaces and percussion equipment. Rather than illustrating the song's tragic narrative directly, it creates a tense visual atmosphere around the track's dark electronic pulse. The performance footage emphasizes the group's physical interaction with instruments and machinery, giving the clip a raw, austere feel that matches the song's bleak subject matter.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released in 1984 to promote the "Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody" double A-side, issued on October 29, 1984.

• "Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody" was Depeche Mode's first double A-side single.

• The clip is notably performance-based, using extensively darkened images rather than staging the song's story about a teenage girl's suicide attempt, religious conversion, and sudden death.

• The visual treatment gives unusual prominence to percussion and found-metal textures, reinforcing the industrial character of the track's electronic arrangement.

• The song was recorded at Music Works in London and mixed at Hansa Mischraum in Berlin. Production was handled by Depeche Mode, Daniel Miller, and Gareth Jones.

• The video later appeared on the band's 1985 compilation Some Great Videos and was included in the 2016 Video Singles Collection.

• The song's religious imagery and treatment of suicide attracted controversy, and some radio stations considered it unsuitable for broadcast.