"Suffer Well" is the third single off the album Playing the Angel

Playing the Angel

Playing the Angel is the eleventh studio album by English electronic band Depeche Mode, released in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2005 by Mute Records and in the United States and Canada on 18 October by Sire Records and Reprise Records. It was supported by the Touring the Angel...

by Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...

, and their forty-third single overall. It was released in the UK on 27 March 2006.

It is the first Depeche Mode single whose lyrics are written by Dave Gahan. It is also the first Depeche Mode single that's not written by Martin Gore

Martin Gore

Martin Lee Gore is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, keyboardist, remixer and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the vast majority of their songs...

 since "Just Can't Get Enough" in 1981 which was written by Vince Clarke

Vince Clarke

Vince Clarke is an English synthpop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been involved with a number of successful groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure....

 and the first Depeche Mode single ever to be co-written with non-Depeche Mode members (Andrew Phillpott and Christian Eigner

Christian Eigner

Christian Eigner is an Austrian drummer, composer, live and session musician.- Depeche Mode & Christian Eigner :...

 wrote the music).

The B-Side for the single is "Better Days," a short song with an industrial-punk feel to it.

The song "Suffer Well" was nominated in the category of "Best Dance Recording" at the 2007 Grammy Awards but lost to Justin Timberlake's

Justin Timberlake

Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...

 "SexyBack

SexyBack

"SexyBack" is a song by American recording artist Justin Timberlake from his second studio album, FutureSex/LoveSounds . It was released on July 7, 2006, by Jive Records as the lead single from the album...

". The single version of the song adds a drum track to the song, and is shorter.

Music video

The video was filmed by Anton Corbijn

Anton Corbijn

Anton Corbijn is a Dutch photographer, music video and film director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2, having handled the principal promotion and sleeve photography for both for more than a decade...

 in mid-December 2005 in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, following DM's appearance at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas

KROQ Acoustic Christmas

Acoustic Christmas is an annual concert run by the Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM.The first show was held in December 1989 though it was simply called the KROQ Xmas Bash. In 1990 the show became bigger and attracted increasingly popular alternative rock bands and singers...

 on December 11, 2005. It was his first music video for the band, excluding tour projections and promo videos, since "Useless

Useless (song)

"Useless" is Depeche Mode's thirty-fourth UK single, released on October 20, 1997, and the fourth and final single for the album Ultra. It was released with "Home" as a double A-side in the US due to "Useless" getting airplay on US radio stations before "Home" was announced."Useless" is an...

" in 1997. The video started to air on TV in early February.

The video features a cameo appearance by Gahan's wife, Jennifer, once as the angel and once as herself. Another cameo is by the band's manager, Jonathan Kessler, who plays Gahan's limo driver. Other highlights include Gore as a bride and Fletcher as a groom. It also features the disco ball seen in the cover art of "Suffer Well". Some say the video is a metaphor for Gahan's drug troubles in the 1990s that almost led to suicide.

Simlish version

In December 2005, Gahan recorded a special vocal track for the song; with help from EA Games, the lyrics were translated into "Simlish

Simlish

Simlish is a fictional language featured in EA Games' Sim series of games. It debuted in SimCopter, and has been especially prominent in The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. The Sims development team created the unique Simlish language by experimenting with fractured Ukrainian, French, Latin,...

" (the language of the game The Sims 2

The Sims 2

The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the best-selling computer game, The Sims, which debuted on February 4, 2000. It was first released on September 14, 2004 for Microsoft Windows. A port to Apple Mac OS X...

) and later appeared in The Sims 2: Open For Business

The Sims 2: Open for Business

The Sims 2: Open for Business is the third expansion pack for The Sims 2, released on March 3, 2006, which allows Sims to run a home or community lot based business. Aspyr released a port of the game for Mac OS X on September 4, 2006...

as one of the games new songs. Other New Wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 songs were also remixed in Simlish, and added to the game, such as Howard Jones

Howard Jones (musician)

Howard Jones is a musician, singer and songwriter. According to the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums, "Jones is an accomplished singer-songwriter who was a regular chart visitor in the mid 1980s with his brand of synthpop. Jones, who was equally popular in the U.S., appeared at Live...

's "Things Can Only Get Better

Things Can Only Get Better (Howard Jones song)

"Things Can Only Get Better" was released as the first single from Howard Jones' 1985 album Dream Into Action, reaching #6 in the UK Singles Chart and #5 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 chart....

".

Charts and airplay

"Suffer Well" reached #38 on the Modern Rock Tracks

Modern Rock Tracks

Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...

 chart. It reached #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, the band's seventh song to top this chart. "Suffer Well" was added to the playlist of Xfm London

Xfm London

Xfm London is a commercial radio station in the United Kingdom owned by Global Radio and broadcasts on 104.9 FM in London, on digital radio via 30 DAB multiplexes across the country, Sky, TalkTalk TV and Virgin Media....

 on 27 February 2006. However, it failed to make the playlist of any BBC Radio

BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...

 station. Despite this, it entered the UK charts at #12, beating the position achieved by "A Pain That I'm Used To

A Pain that I'm Used To

"A Pain That I'm Used To" is the second single and opening track of the album Playing the Angel by Depeche Mode, and the forty-second DM single overall. The single was released on 12 December 2005 by Mute Records. The single contains remixes by UK Mute label mates Goldfrapp, and Jacques Lu Cont ....

".

Formats and track listings

• "Suffer Well" is written by Dave Gahan/Andrew Phillpott/Christian Eigner
  Christian Eigner
  Christian Eigner is an Austrian drummer, composer, live and session musician.- Depeche Mode & Christian Eigner :...
  
  .
• "Better Days" and "The Darkest Star" are written by Martin Gore
  Martin Gore
  Martin Lee Gore is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, keyboardist, remixer and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the vast majority of their songs...
  
  .

7": Mute / Bong37 (EU)

1. "Suffer Well" (Metope Vocal Remix) - 6:28
2. "The Darkest Star" (Monolake Remix) - 5:54

12": Mute / 12Bong37 (EU)

1. "Suffer Well" (Tiga Remix) - 6:28
2. "Suffer Well" (Tiga Dub) - 5:29
3. "Suffer Well" (Narcotic Thrust Vocal Dub) - 6:44

12": Mute / L12Bong37 (EU)

1. "Suffer Well" (Metope Remix) - 6:53
2. "Suffer Well" (Metope Vocal Remix) - 6:28
3. "Suffer Well" (M83 Remix) - 4:31
4. "Better Days" (Basteroid "Dance Is Gone" Vocal Mix) - 7:09

12": Mute / XL12Bong37 (EU)

1. "The Darkest Star" (Holden Remix) - 7:47
2. "The Darkest Star" (Holden Dub) - 7:56

CD: Mute / CDBong37 (EU)

1. "Suffer Well" (single version) - 3:20
2. "Better Days" - 2:28

CD: Mute / LCDBong37 (EU)

1. "Suffer Well" (Tiga
   Tiga (musician)
   Tiga is the stage name of Montreal-born DJ/producer Tiga James Sontag . His album Sexor won the 2007 Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year.-Career:He graduated from Selwyn House School, a prestigious school in Westmount...
   
    Remix) - 6:28
2. "Suffer Well" (Narcotic Thrust
   Narcotic Thrust
   Narcotic Thrust is an electronic and house music duo from the UK consisting of producers Stuart Crichton and Andy Morris. The name Narcotic Thrust is an anagram of "Stuart Crichton"....
   
    Vocal Dub) - 6:44
3. "Suffer Well" (Alter Ego
   Alter Ego (band)
   Alter Ego is a German acid house music group, comprising Roman Flügel and Jörn Elling Wuttke. They achieved notability in 2004 with their track "Rocker", which became one of the year's defining dance anthems, especially in Europe, and getting played on rotation amongst the most popular electroclash...
   
    Remix) - 6:14
4. "Suffer Well" (M83
   M83 (band)
   M83 is a musical act by French musician Anthony Gonzalez. It is named after a spiral galaxy, Messier 83. The band was founded in 2001 by Gonzalez and former member Nicolas Fromageau in Antibes, France...
   
    Remix) - 4:31
5. "Suffer Well" (Metope Vocal Remix) - 6:28
6. "Suffer Well" (Metope Remix) - 6:53

DVD: Mute / DVDBong37 (EU)

1. "Suffer Well" (video) - 3:50
2. "Suffer Well" (Alter Ego Dub)
3. "Better Days" (Basteroid "Dance Is Gone" Vocal Mix) - 7:09

Promo 12": Mute / P12Bong37 (EU)

1. "Suffer Well" (Tiga Remix) - 6:28
2. "Suffer Well" (Tiga Dub) - 5:29
3. "Suffer Well" (Narcotic Thrust Vocal Dub) - 6:44

Promo 12": Mute / PL12Bong37 (EU)

1. "Suffer Well" (Metope Remix) - 6:53
2. "Suffer Well" (Metope Vocal Remix) - 6:28
3. "Suffer Well" (M83 Remix) - 4:31
4. "Better Days" (Basteroid "Dance Is Gone" Vocal Mix) - 7:09

Promo 12": Mute / PXL12Bong37 (EU)

1. "The Darkest Star" (Holden Remix) - 7:47
2. "The Darkest Star" (Holden Dub) - 7:56

Radio Promo CD: Mute / RCDBong37 (EU)

1. "Suffer Well" (single version) - 2:47
2. "Suffer Well" - 3:50

Club Promo CD: Mute / PCDBong37 (EU)

1. "Suffer Well" - 3:50
2. "Suffer Well" (Tiga Remix) - 6:28
3. "Suffer Well" (Tiga Dub) - 5:29
4. "Suffer Well" (Narcotic Thrust Vocal Dub) - 6:44
5. "Suffer Well" (Alter Ego Remix) - 6:14
6. "Suffer Well" (Metope Remix) - 6:53
7. "Suffer Well" (Metope Vocal Remix) - 6:28
8. "Suffer Well" (M83 Remix) - 4:31
9. "Suffer Well" (M83 Instrumental) - 4:42
10. "Better Days" (Basteroid "Dance Is Gone" Vocal Mix) - 7:09
11. "Better Days" (Basteroid "Dance Is Gone" Remix) - 7:10

Promo CD: Reprise / PRO-CD-101702 (US)

1. "Suffer Well" (Single Version) - 2:52
2. "Suffer Well" (Album Version) - 3:50

Promo CD: Reprise / PRO-CDR-101770 (US)

1. "Suffer Well" (Tiga Remix) - 6:28
2. "Suffer Well" (Dirty Monkey Remix Peter Rauhofer
   Peter Rauhofer
   Peter Rauhofer is a DJ, remixer and producer who formerly went under the moniker Club 69 as well as Size Queen. A native of Vienna, Austria, he is famous for his remixes of a number of Madonna's songs including "Nothing Really Matters", "American Life", "Nothing Fails, "Nobody Knows Me", "Get...
   
   ) - 9:00
3. "Suffer Well" (Tiga Dub Version) - 5:29
4. "Suffer Well" (Narcotic Thrust Vocal Dub) - 6:44
5. "Suffer Well" (Metope Vocal Remix) - 6:28
6. "Suffer Well" (Metope Remix) - 6:53
7. "Suffer Well" (Alter Ego Remix) - 6:14
8. "Suffer Well" (M83 Remix) - 4:42

Digital downloads

1. "Suffer Well" (Alter Ego Remix Edit) - 4:38 [US only Download]
2. "Suffer Well" (Metope Remix Edit) - 4:32 [US only Download]
3. "Suffer Well" (Metope Vocal Remix Edit) - 4:26 [US only Download]
4. "Suffer Well" (Narcotic Thrust Vocal Dub Edit) - 4:48 [US only Download]
5. "Suffer Well" (Tiga Remix Edit) - 4:56 [US only Download]
6. "Suffer Well" (Tiga Dub Version) - 5:29

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...	67
Danish Singles Chart	1
Finnish Singles Chart	6
French Singles Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...	87
German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...	13
Hungarian Singles Chart Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary....	1
Italian Singles Chart	5
Spanish Singles Chart	2
Swedish Singles Chart	20
Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...	66
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	12
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...	1
US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	38