"Blasphemous Rumours" is Depeche Mode's twelfth UK single (released on October 29, 1984), from the album Some Great Reward.
It is the first Double A-Side Depeche Mode single in the UK, although the U.S. has several more (including See You/The Meaning of Love and Home/Useless). "Somebody" is the first single with Martin Gore as lead vocals, and only one of three.
Other than the 7" mixes, there are no remixes of "Blasphemous Rumours" or "Somebody". The single version of "Somebody" includes a heartbeat added most noticeably to the beginning of the song, whereas the original album version only has the beat towards the end. The single version of "Blasphemous Rumours" is exactly the same as the album version, though it fades out during the final choral repetition, eliminating the "life support machine" outro of the album version.
The "Blasphemous Rumours" music video and the "Somebody" music video were directed by Clive Richardson.
The two incidents mentioned in the lyrics to "Blasphemous Rumours" are reportedly based on true stories. Singer Dave Gahan tells the story of a sixteen-year-old girl's failed attempt to kill herself by slitting her wrists, and the story of an eighteen-year-old girl who renews her faith in God only to be struck by a car, end up on life support, and die shortly afterwards. The conclusion: "I think that God's got a sick sense of humour, and when I die, I expect to find Him laughing." By contrast, "Somebody," which was sung by Martin L. Gore himself, is a softer, more gentle love song in which Gore sings of his desire to find someone to be his lover and his confidant and who respects his opinions about "the world we live in and life in general," though she may not necessarily agree with them.
