Synopsis

Depeche Mode perform aboard the preserved Royal Navy cruiser HMS Belfast, moving through its cramped corridors, gun rooms, and machinery spaces. Their performance is intercut with archival images of soldiers, weapons, warships, and military exercises. The contrast between the band's controlled, mechanical surroundings and the documentary-style footage gives the video an explicitly anti-war tone, connecting the song's protest against prejudice with the broader violence and division of the Cold War era.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released on March 12, 1984, alongside the single, which became Depeche Mode's first major international breakthrough.

• Most of the band footage was filmed aboard HMS Belfast, the permanently moored museum ship on London's River Thames. The ship's artillery, control rooms, ladders, and industrial interiors provide the video's dominant visual setting.

• The military footage was sourced from archival material rather than filmed as part of the band's performance. Its inclusion reinforces the song's themes of aggression, intolerance, and conflict.

• The video's use of a real warship is closely tied to the song's sound. During the sessions, Depeche Mode used sampled metallic impacts and industrial noises, giving the track a harsh mechanical character that the shipboard imagery visually echoes.

• The song was written by Martin Gore as a response to racism and prejudice. Alan Wilder also associated its message with war, an interpretation strongly reflected in the video's editing.

• The video has been included on several Depeche Mode home-video compilations, including Some Great Videos, The Best of Depeche Mode Volume 1, and Video Singles Collection.