In 1990, NME told songwriter Martin Gore “you seem to be saying ‘just for this moment pleasure and gratification are all that matters’. It’s almost like existentialism.” Gore responded:

Yes, and it’s a very positive song. It’s saying that love and sex and pleasure are positive things. And I don’t mind you bringing up existentialism because I am influenced by that. I’m probably as influenced by Camus, Kafka and Brecht as I am by pop songs.

Alan wrote on Recoil’s website:

“World In My Eyes” had in fact been recorded very early on during the Milan session and, perhaps for this reason, displayed familiar Depeche elements linking it with previous albums. It was completed in London and with its ‘drop’ 3rd verse and use of vocal double-tracking to fill out and build the later choruses, was probably the most ‘electro’ sounding track on the LP – something of a homage to Kraftwerk, in a rhythmical sense at least. Laughing in the face of criticism that electronic music was ‘soulless’ and would only appeal to a small eclectic audience, its success exhibited one of Depeche Mode’s most fundamental philosophies.

Andy Fletcher declared in a TimesTalks interview that this was his favorite DM song.