Little 15

"Little 15" is a song by English electronic group Depeche Mode. It was released on 16 May 1988 as the fourth single from the album Music for the Masses (1987). The song was never intended to be a single; in fact, it barely made it onto the album, but a French record label wanted to release the song as a single, which became a popular import and a minor hit in the UK, reaching #60 on the UK Singles Chart.

Dave Gahan told KROQ radio in 1987:" 'Little 15' is actually about a guy. It's about a boy. See, a lot of people have taken that song already in the wrong way, they think it's about a small girl, but it's not. It's actually about a boy, and his mother is talking to him. She's saying, 'Look, you're gonna grow up and everything, and this is what it's gonna be like. It's not a bed of roses, and you're gonna be going out into the big, bad world soon.' It's about a boy and his mother, his older mother. To be honest, when Martin wrote the song and he brought it to us and I read the lyrics and stuff - it's actually one of my favourite songs on the album - but when he brought it to me I thought immediately it was about a little girl, one of his, you know, 'things'... But we won't talk about those!"

Release
The song's title, as well as its status as a minor release, contributed to its special catalog number "LITTLE15". In this vein, it can be seen as a "little" release between BONG15 ("Behind the Wheel") and BONG16 ("Everything Counts [Live]"). "Little 15" didn't chart in France, but finally was also released as a single in other countries becoming a success: in West Germany, where it hit #16, in Austria where it reached #25 and in Switzerland where it entered the Top 20 at #18.

There was no remix of the song at the time of release (the 12" and 7" versions were the same); however, there are two piano instrumental B-sides, both performed by Alan Wilder. The first is "Stjärna" (Swedish for 'star') (mislabelled "St. Jarna"), written by Martin Gore. The 12" b-side also contains a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata #14." According to his website, Wilder did not intend for it to be a b-side, as he was merely performing it for fun, but Gore stealthily recorded it. Wilder did not perform the song perfectly (his error occurs near the end of the song).

The music video for "Little 15" was directed by Martyn Atkins, who had done previous design work for the band. The music video was filmed in the Trellick Tower in London.

Reception
In a positive review for AllMusic, Ned Raggett highlighted the song's "subtle orchestrations" and "David Gahan's subtly impassioned performance".

B-side
Little 15 was released with Stjärna as B-side. It is an instrumental song recorded during the production of the 1987 album Music For The Masses.