To Cut a Long Story Short

" To Cut a Long Story Short" is a 1980 song by  Spandau Ballet. It was their first single and reached number 5 on the  UK singles chart. It appeared on the album  Journeys to Glory.

==Inspiration, meaning and use as sample == The song has been speculated to be about a veteran, perhaps of Vietnam, who is drafted and suffers from PTSD; the lyrics are told from the man's point of view as a boy being drafted, how he gets no answers as to why he must join the war.[2]  "To Cut a Long Story Short" was Vince Clarke's inspiration to write Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough",[3]  to which the keyboard style bears a certain similarity.

The signature riff from "To Cut a Long Story Short" is used as a sample looping throughout the Freestylers track "In Love with You" on their album Adventures in Freestyle.[4] ==Formats and track listings ==
 * 7" single
 * 1) "To Cut a Long Story Short" — 3:20
 * 2) "To Cut a Long Story Short" (Instrumental) — 3:20
 * 12" single
 * 1) "To Cut a Long Story Short" (Mix 1) — 6:30
 * 2) "To Cut a Long Story Short" (Mix 2) — 3:56