Stop Speaking
"Stop Speaking" was released by Jennylee, bassist of Warpaint, as part of her Singles Club series. The song features Dave Gahan on backing vocals.
Lyrics
I lost trust in my many ways
I lost count, in all my trials
In my wide open eyes
In my eyes
Stop speaking to me that way
I know what I'm doing
I lost count of my fights
I lost trust in everywhere I go
Everything I see is laced in lazy
You sleepy, kooky, you crazy
You are so spaced out baby
No check in lately
How come? why not? (Hey)
Stop speaking to me that way
I know what I'm doing
Stop speaking to me that way
I know what I'm doing
It's me in a nutshell
I'm drifting so far away
I'm pale, eyes powdered
Keep sifting through what's not working out
The ball's in your court now
Spinning 'round and 'round and 'round
Spun out
I lost count of my fights
I lost trust in my many ways
I lost count, in all my trials
In my wide open eyes, in my eyes
It's me in a nutshell
I'm drifting so far away
I'm pale, eyes powdered
Keep sifting through what's not working out
The balls in your court now
Stop speaking to me that way
I know what I'm doing
My Take
Jennylee sure got a treat from having Dave sing with her on this! She has been a big admirer of him and Depeche Mode1, and her band also got to open for them during the North American leg of their Global Spirit Tour.
This song has a dreamy and psychedelic feel to it throughout just like most of Warpaint's material, with its mix of acoustic instruments and electronic elements and effects. It is Jennylee who has the primary vocal part here, while Dave only sings a few lines with her- namely, the "stop speaking to me that way..." lines, giving it lots of body and edge. The song does have kind of an odd ending to it as it just stops abruptly, with no fade-out and no real sonic conclusion.
The lyrics speak about someone who is in trouble and who is struggling, but they stubbornly refuse any outside help for their situation. This sounds a lot like what Dave went through in the 1990s, when hardly anyone even knew about his heroin addiction and even if they did, they could hardly reach him and help him. I could imagine others perhaps talking to him in a nagging or condescending sort of way and him just telling them to fuck off. Now that I think about it, the abrupt ending to this song does give it that kind of "fuck off" attitude like that person is basically walking away from the conversation with absolutely nothing getting resolved. Thus, it leaves the listener somewhat bewildered and disappointed by the lack of resolution which, if that was done on purpose, then I'll admit, it's pretty genius.
Music Video
There is no music video for this song.