"Precious" is a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode from their eleventh studio album, Playing the Angel (2005). It was released on 3 October 2005 by Mute, Sire, and Reprise Records as the album's lead single. The song reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 71 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and No. 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also topped the charts in Denmark, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, and it peaked within the top 10 in Austria, Wallonia, Canada, Finland, Germany, and Norway.

Depeche Mode main songwriter Martin Gore wrote the song while he was going through a divorce. The track is a message to Gore's children, who were aware of the divorce, and Gore felt guilty that they had to witness the process. Recognising their "fragile" state, Gore expresses his sympathy for them but also mentions that "things get broken" and tells them to keep faith in their parents.^[2]

Released in the United Kingdom on 3 October 2005,^[2] "Precious" debuted at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, which would become its peak, and spent a total of six weeks in the top 100. As of 2024, it is the band's last top-10 single in the UK.^[3] In Ireland, on 6 October, the song first appeared at its peak of No. 12 on the Irish Singles Chart.^[4][5] It was a chart-topper across mainland Europe, debuting at the top position in Italy and Spain^[6][7] and rising to No. 1 in Denmark, Hungary, and Sweden.^[8][9][10] On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Precious" reached No. 4,^[11] peaking within the top 10 in Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Norway, and the Wallonia region of Belgium.^[12][13] In the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the Flanders region of Belgium, it entered the top 40.^[14][15]

In the United States, where "Precious" was serviced to radio on 26 September 2005,^[16] the song debuted at No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose its highest position, No. 71, the following issue, 7 November 2005.^[17][18] It spent only one more week on the Hot 100, at No. 80, before leaving the listing.^[19] The single found better success on the Billboard dance charts, topping both the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Singles Sales rankings on 29 October 2005.^[20][21] It additionally found peaks of No. 6 on the Adult Alternative Songs chart,^[22] No. 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart,^[23] and No. 32 on the Adult Top 40.^[24] On the Canadian Singles Chart, the record reached No. 2 and remained on the listing for 12 weeks.^[25]

The music video for "Precious" features the band performing on an empty, computer-generated ocean liner, before walking out into an alien-looking (also CG) forest. The video was directed by Uwe Flade, who directed the "Enjoy the Silence 04" video, and was leaked online before the song's release.^[2]

"Free" is the B-side to "Precious". It's a techno beat with an old school feel. It was unavailable in the US, aside from importing, but is now available on iTunes. It also appears as a bonus track on the Japanese version of Playing the Angel. There is no remix of the song, aside from an early version that was heard at the Touring the Angel press conference, as shown on the Playing the Angel Electronic Press Kit, however, the full/stand-alone version is not available for download or purchase at this time.

Personnel are lifted from the UK CD single liner notes.^[27]

• Martin L. Gore – writing
• Ben Hillier – production, mixing, engineering
• Steve Fitzmaurice – mixing
• Dave McCracken – programming
• Richard Morris – programming, engineering
• Anton Corbijn – art direction, photography, cover design

• List of number-one hits of 2005 (Denmark)
• List of number-one hits of 2005 (Italy)
• List of number-one singles of 2005 (Spain)
• List of number-one singles of 2005 (Sweden)
• List of Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number ones of 2005