DEPECHE MODE - POLICY OF TRUTH 

Released :  May 7, 1990.

Charted:  UK: #16   US: #15 

"Policy Of Truth" is a song released as the third single of the 1990 “Violator”. It is the only Depeche Mode single to chart higher on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart than on the UK Singles Chart. 

The meaning of the song is that people should not lie and hide things, but rather stand up and be honest and open about their mistakes and learn from them, thus being true to themselves. The song emphasizes the importance of taking responsibility for one's own actions and accepting the consequences that come with them, instead of living a life of lies and deception. The chorus, "Never again is what you swore, the time before", serves as a reminder to not repeat the same mistakes and to live a life of integrity.

Martin Gore in 1998: "It has been one of my all time favourite songs that we've ever recorded. I really like the words to it and the whole concept of having to lie to keep up appearances — maybe it's better to do that. I just really like the whole subject matter of the song. I like the Terry Hoax version or the one by Dishwalla from the tribute album [For The Masses], which is another rock version. I just like the fact that, sometimes the potential of the songs is seen when they are performed in a more conventional format. I think a lot of the time, the songs are overlooked, disregarded or not taken seriously because of the instrumentation we've used."

Recorded initially during the Puk sessions, 'Policy' went through many changes before being almost completely re-recorded at The Church studios in London. Alan Wilder talks about this: "Usually this would signify problems with a song although in this case we knew it was a strong track, not least a potential single. The main riff of the song proved such a problem to get a sound for and we must have tried 100 different variations before settling on what had become perhaps the sound of the album — slide guitar."