Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody

"Blasphemous Rumours"/"Somebody" is Depeche Mode's twelfth UK single and first double A-side single, released on 29 October 1984.
Both A-side songs are from the album "Some Great Reward". "Somebody" is the first single with Martin Gore as lead vocals, one of three to date (the others being "A Question of Lust" and "Home").
The music videos for both songs were directed by Clive Richardson.
Song information.
The verses to "Blasphemous Rumours" describe a 16-year-old girl who attempts suicide but fails. She experiences a religious revival but then "Hit by a car / Ended up / On a life support machine" (from the lyrics). The chorus uses these incidents to conclude, "I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours / But I think that God's got a sick sense of humour / And when I die, I expect to find him laughing." Like other songs on "Some Great Reward", the song uses a dense sound with extensive sampled percussion.
When Depeche Mode announced that they were planning to release "Blasphemous Rumours" as a single, pushback from the religious community resulted, and consequently, the band decided as a compromise to release the single as a double-A side with "Somebody."
"Somebody", which was sung by Martin Gore in the studio in the nude, includes one of Gore's "little twists", where the song builds as if it's a song about finding your perfect love, only to have him reveal at the end "though things like this make me sick / in a case like this I'll get away with it."
Track listings.
All songs written by Martin Gore except:
CD: Mute / CDBong7 (UK).
All live tracks recorded at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, England on 29 September 1984.