Top TV Song Last Week: Never Let Me Down Again by Depeche Mode

January 25, 2023September 14, 2023 Sam Bowser artist-depeche-mode, show-the-last-of-us

HBO’s The Last Of Us premiered on Sunday, January 15, 2023, and has garnered acclaim from both critics and the viewing audience. The apocalyptic drama is adapted from the video game of the same name and has been cited as “the best video game adaptation ever made.” The premiere featured several popular songs, including Tunefind’s top TV song last week. Last week’s most popular song is an 1980’s deep-cut from an enduring English electronic band.

Never Let Me Down Again

by Depeche Mode

from The Last Of Us Soundtrack · Season 1 · Episode 1 · When You’re Lost in the Darkness

The radio turns on by itself and starts signaling danger as Clickers are heard; End credits.

Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel in the HBO series, The Last of Us

The new series uses music as a plot tool in which characters play music over the radio to communicate with fellow survivors. The survivors use Fred Bronson’s The Billboard Book of Number One Hits to define and identify the meaning behind the songs broadcasted. In the fictional setting, ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ by Depeche Mode is meant to communicate trouble. In an eerie and foreboding closing of the episode, a tired-looking radio appears to turn itself on as the grainy and nostalgic sound of the track playing on the radio is heard faintly. As the scene transitions outside, the song switches to full definition before the end credits flash onto the screen.

‘Never Let Me Down’ was released in 1987 on the band’s sixth studio album, Music For The Masses. The album was followed by The Music for the Masses Tour, which is credited for helping the band become well-known in the US, specifically following their performance in Pasadena’s Rose Bowl. The track currently boasts over 48 million streams on Spotify, although it’s placement in The Last of Us is being credited with more than tripling the songs streams overnight.

Depeche Mode are an English electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). The band has been creating their brand of music for over 30 years. Depeche Mode has had 54 songs and 17 Top 10 albums in the UK charts. They have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and also rank No. 98 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In December 2016, Billboard named Depeche Mode the 10th Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists. They were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and 2018, and were inducted as part of the Class of 2020.

Depeche Mode is no stranger to sync placement with 75 songs and over 140 appearances on Tunefind. They have received placement in series such as American Horror Story, Euphoria, and Russian Doll as well as in films including Resident Evil, Man of the Year, and The Wedding Singer.