New Life
Paul Spector (Lyrics) and Vince Clarke (Music)
1979?
In May/June 2020, one of Vince Clarke's cousins, named Adam Spector, claimed the following on Facebook:
My brother Paul Spector wrote the lyrics to this song. He didn't want any or got any credit for it. I remember quite clearly Vince "borrowing" them from him. It's about a Chinese Philosopher. I read a whole page about it in a Depeche Mode book and every word about it was true except who wrote it. Vince's highest qualification is in Woodwork and my brother has a Masters Degree in Philosophy from King's College, London. Vince wouldn't be able to explain what it was about other than what he was told by Paul. I did ask Vince for the original, written lyrics back but he said he'd lost them.
In the 1982-01-22 issue of Smash Hits:
Andy Fletcher: "Words were never Vince [Clarke]'s strong point. As a matter of fact, we were sometimes quite embarrassed by his stuff! We didn't understand a lot of his songs. He’d never tell us what they were about!"
Dave Gahan: "I remember walking through town in Basildon one night and I saw these two girls following along behind me. I knew they'd recognised me. And they start singing, [high-pitched squeak] 'I stand still stepping on a shady street'. And I start walking a bit faster, turns me collar up like this! And then... [wails] 'And I watch that man to a stranger.' And I'm thinking: 'Oh no, this is embarrassing! Do they understand these lyrics?! Perhaps they do and we don't!"
You can here the writer's demo here with Vince Clarke on synths circa 1979 to 1980, it kinda resembles to Reason Man and the drum machine sounds identical to the one used for the Bridge House gig on October 1980
Paul Spector (Lyrics) and Vince Clarke (Music)
1979?
In May/June 2020, one of Vince Clarke's cousins, named Adam Spector, claimed the following on Facebook:
My brother Paul Spector wrote the lyrics to this song. He didn't want any or got any credit for it. I remember quite clearly Vince "borrowing" them from him. It's about a Chinese Philosopher. I read a whole page about it in a Depeche Mode book and every word about it was true except who wrote it. Vince's highest qualification is in Woodwork and my brother has a Masters Degree in Philosophy from King's College, London. Vince wouldn't be able to explain what it was about other than what he was told by Paul. I did ask Vince for the original, written lyrics back but he said he'd lost them.
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In July 2020, Adam Spector uploaded a version of 'New Life' on YouTube, claiming in the description that his brother Paul wrote the lyrics, with Vince Clarke having written the music. Adam later clarified to DM Live that he was singing vocals in this clip, with Vince playing keyboards. Susan Ryder Paget, who was in the band No Romance In China along with Vince Clarke, posted a comment on Facebook in which she recognizes Vince speaking at the beginning of the recording (seen in the screenshot to the right), and further feels that the ending of the song is characteristic of Vince Clarke's keyboard playing style of the time.
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Adam Spector: I recorded this 40 years ago with Vince Martin aka Clarke then a member of Depeche Mode. He was just making it up as he was going along. I thought it was about time someone else had a listen. The lyrics were by my brother Paul.
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In the 1982-01-22 issue of Smash Hits:
Andy Fletcher: "Words were never Vince [Clarke]'s strong point. As a matter of fact, we were sometimes quite embarrassed by his stuff! We didn't understand a lot of his songs. He’d never tell us what they were about!"
Dave Gahan: "I remember walking through town in Basildon one night and I saw these two girls following along behind me. I knew they'd recognised me. And they start singing, [high-pitched squeak] 'I stand still stepping on a shady street'. And I start walking a bit faster, turns me collar up like this! And then... [wails] 'And I watch that man to a stranger.' And I'm thinking: 'Oh no, this is embarrassing! Do they understand these lyrics?! Perhaps they do and we don't!"
You can here the writer's demo here with Vince Clarke on synths circa 1979 to 1980, it kinda resembles to Reason Man and the drum machine sounds identical to the one used for the Bridge House gig on October 1980
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