"Telegraph" is a song by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), and is the second single from their studio album Dazzle Ships. "Telegraph" was originally slated to be the first single release, but being unhappy with the mix and with pressure from Virgin, the group instead opted to release "Genetic Engineering".
The song was first recorded in 1981 at The Manor studios and had been under consideration for the Architecture & Morality album. The lyrics on the original 1981 version and the 1983 version are different in places, reflecting the harder edge the original version presented.
The 1981 version was released on the 2008 re-released Dazzle Ships album as an extra track. The original inspiration for "Telegraph" came from Andy McCluskey's strong feelings against politics and religion at the time. These motifs were weakened for the version on Dazzle Ships.
Critic Stewart Mason in AllMusic retrospectively described the song as "insanely catchy" and "brilliant", adding: "[A]s the state-of-1983 electronics of the arrangement sound more and more quaint, the irony grows sharper."
"Telegraph" was OMD's first single not to enter the top 40 in the UK since achieving chart success with the single "Messages" in May 1980.
It was included on the CD and cassette versions of the band's first singles compilation album The Best of OMD in 1988 (in a remix unique to that release), but omitted from the second singles compilation The OMD Singles in 1998.