Master and Servant

"Master and Servant" is a song by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 20 August 1984 as the second single from their fourth studio album, Some Great Reward (1984). Its subject matter is BDSM relationships, which caused some controversy, though it has an underlying political theme that is often overlooked by media. It reached number 9 on the UK Singles Chart, number 49 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart and number 87 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Conception and composition The overtly sexual, BDSM-themed lyrics of "Master and Servant" – including synthesized whip-and-chain sound effects – reportedly meant that the song was banned by many radio stations in the United States (although the song reached the Billboard Hot 100 anyway, albeit only at number 87 and for only a three-week chart stay). The song derived from Martin Gore going to various S&M clubs at the time, which he began to form an idea for the song after "seeing a correlation between what's happening there and life and politics and stuff." He further stated that it was not just about S&M in 1993 in a Vox magazine: Reportedly, the song narrowly avoided a radio ban by the BBC as well. "Master and Servant" might have been banned if the one BBC staffer who wanted to ban the record had not been away on holiday at the time the other staffers voted on whether to add "Master and Servant" to their playlist.