The Meaning of Love

"The Meaning of Love" is a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode from their second studio album, A Broken Frame (1982). It was released on 26 April 1982 as the album's second single. It reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background
The single version of "The Meaning of Love" is the same as the album version from A Broken Frame. The "Fairly Odd mix" is an extended version with electronic experimentation added to the original mix.

The B-side is "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)", an atmospheric instrumental written by Martin Gore as an intro for the Broken Frame Tour, in the town of Oberkorn, Luxembourg. The track was named after the town, due to the fact that the band were touring there and were told by their record company (Mute) that they needed to come up with a name for the B-side to "The Meaning of Love", thus they chose the town's name as they couldn't think of anything else. A longer version called the "Development mix" features an ambient intro followed by the original song, and afterwards has a new arrangement of music.

The single was not released in the United States, but the 12″ "Fairly Odd mix" of the song features on the B-side of the "See You" US 12″ single.

Music video
The video for "The Meaning of Love" was the second video to feature Alan Wilder, although he did not contribute to the song. The director was Julien Temple. The band disliked the video and did not include it on the Some Great Videos compilation album.

Track listing
All tracks written by Martin L. Gore

7″: Mute / 7Mute22 (UK)
 * 1) "The Meaning of Love" – 3:05
 * 2) "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" – 4:07

12″: Mute / 12Mute22 (UK)
 * 1) "The Meaning of Love" (Fairly Odd mix) – 4:59
 * 2) "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" (Development mix) – 7:37

CD: Mute / CDMute22 (UK) – released in 1991
 * 1) "The Meaning of Love" – 3:05
 * 2) "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" – 4:07
 * 3) "The Meaning of Love" (Fairly Odd mix) – 4:59
 * 4) "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" (Development mix) – 7:37

CD: Sire / 40293-2 (US) – released in 1991
 * 1) "The Meaning of Love" – 3:05
 * 2) "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" – 4:07
 * 3) "The Meaning of Love" (Fairly Odd mix) – 4:59
 * 4) "Oberkorn (It's a Small Town)" (Development mix) – 7:37