For this week’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, Jim Adams has asked us to respond to this challenge by using the prompt word “understand” or going with the above picture.

I’m not a Depeche Mode fan, but my daughter is, and there is one song by that group that stands out to me because of the lyrics. It’s called “People are People.”

“People Are People” was written by band member Martin Gore. It was released in March 1984 as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Some Great Reward. Recorded at Hansa Mischraum in West Berlin, it was the band’s first top-20 single in the United States, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song was Depeche Mode’s breakthrough hit in the United States after having had several chart hits in the UK to this point.

What resonated with me about the song was that it was is a call for people to put aside their differences and work toward unity. Gore asked the question, “I can’t understand what make a man hate another man. Help me understand.”

Some said the song was about race relations, others thought it was about war. However, it was an unusual song for Depeche Mode because the lyrics are so blatant and leave little to the imagination. For this reason, Gore doesn’t consider it one of his stronger songs and has not played it live since the ’80s. And Dave Gahan said he regretted recording the song, calling it “too nice, too commercial.”

Here are the lyrics to “People are People.”

People are people, so why should it be?
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be?
You and I should get along so awfully

So we're different colors, and we're different breeds
And different people, have different needs
It's obvious you hate me, though I've done nothing wrong
I've never even met you, so what could I have done?

I can't understand
What makes a man hate another man?
Help me understand

People are people, so why should it be?
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be?
You and I should get along so awfully

Help me understand, help me understand
Help me understand

Now you're punching, and you're kicking
And you're shouting at me
I'm relying on your common decency
So far it hasn't surfaced but I'm sure it exists
It just takes a while to travel from your head to your fist

I can't understand
What makes a man hate another man?
Help me understand

People are people, so why should it be?
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people, so why should it be?
You and I should get along so awfully

I can't understand what make a man hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand what make a man hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand what make a man hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand what make a man hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand what make a man hate another man
Help me understand
I can't understand what make a man hate another man
Help me understand