Wagging Tongue
"Wagging Tongue" is a song by English electronic band Depeche Mode. It was released on 7 July 2023 as the third single from their fifteenth studio album, Memento Mori.[1]
"Wagging Tongue"
Background[edit]
It is the fourth track that Dave Gahan and Martin Gore collaborated on together (along with "Oh Well", "Long Time Lie" and "You Move"), and the first to be released as a single.
Of the song, Gahan stated: "Martin will take one of my songs, for instance, let's say 'Wagging Tongue', which is on this record. I sent my little demo to Martin of me hamfistedly trying to play the guitar, and get the song out and find the chords and all that. And then Martin sends it back with these beautiful Kraftwerk-esque chords and arpeggiated synths and stuff, and I'm like, 'Oh, okay...' But that then takes me to another place, you see, because that changes the perception again."[2]
"It's the first song from both of us that ever made it onto a record. I could sense early on that we really hit the mark with this one." Gore elaborated: "The melody is excellent, and the entire song has something intoxicating. It's positive, it's pop, but it's not too much pop."[3]
Reception[edit]
Joe Muggs of The Arts Desk stated, "The opening brace of tracks 'My Cosmos Is Mine' and 'Wagging Tongue' have synth patterns and deliberately simple melodies that hark all the way back to 1981 and DM's first work with Vince Clarke still in the band."[4]
Kory Grow of Rolling Stone commented, "On 'Wagging Tongue', a rare Gahan–Gore songwriting collaboration, Gahan sings about feeling sadness 'when you watch another angel die' over sparkly New Wave synths that recall the group's earliest work. The lyrics, which Gahan sings ominously, could be a metaphoric indictment of politicians needing to act on gun safety or Gahan could be singing about rising above personal obstacles, but, either way, with the shimmery keyboard backdrop, the words have a way of sticking in your brain."[5]
Music video[edit]
The music video was released on 24 May 2023.[6][7] It was directed by the Sacred Egg, with Anton Corbijn acting as a creative director.[8]
Remix[edit]
On 6 July 2023, British indie rock group Wet Leg remixed the song, featuring new, haunting vocals and an ethereal feel.[9][10] This remix would go on to be nominated for and win the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.