Enjoy The Silence

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Enjoy The Silence
Song	Enjoy The Silence
By	Depeche Mode
Songwriter	Martin L. Gore
Produced by	Depeche Mode Flood
Recorded at	Puk Studios, Denmark Logic Studios, Milan
Length (mm:ss)	6:12 (album version) 4:15 (single version)
Tempo	113 BPM
Time signature	4 4
Key	C Minor
Engineering assistance	Daryl Bamonte Dick Meaney David Browne Mark Flannery
Mixed by	Flood Daniel Miller
Recorded	1989
Originally released	5 February 1990
Live performances as Depeche Mode	986 times *
Total live performances	1061 times *

"Enjoy The Silence" is a song from the 1990 album Violator by Depeche Mode. It was released as a single on 5 February 1990.

Quotes

Martin Gore: "It's just about a feeling of not wanting anything else, feeling totally satisfied, and even the words and everything seem an intrusion. You don't need anything else, you're totally happy. It's a nice song, it's nice, that's a way to put it, it's nice."

Dave Gahan: "And that's why, if you notice, in the video, you'll see that I only sing one line in the whole thing every now and then, repeatedly: "Words are very unnecessary". Because you got all these beautiful scenes, beautiful photography everywhere, and you look at this fantastic photography, so words [are unnecessary], and I'm a king, obviously, I'm supposed to have everything."

— Martin Gore, Dave Gahan - MTV 120 Minutes

This was the only time ever in the studio when we thought we had a hit single. When I finished the demo of this song it was more of a ballad and sounded a bit like the harmonium version that came out on one of the formats. Alan had this idea to speed it up and make it a bit more disco which I was really averse to at first, because I thought ‘the song is called 'Enjoy The Silence' and it’s supposed to be about serenity, and serenity doesn’t go with the disco beat’. So I was sulking for about two days but after he sped it up, I got used to it and added the guitar part, which adds to the whole atmosphere. We could really hear that it had a crossover potential. I have to say that I was sulking for two days for no reason.

— Martin Gore - BONG, issue #37 - 1998

Dave Gahan - Alvor, Portugal
Retrieved via “Depeche Mode Classic Photos And Videos”.

So, originally the demo for ['Enjoy The Silence'] was just me singing along to a basic pad. And it was really Alan [Wilder] and Flood who suggested that we speed it up and put a beat to it. And I was dead against it. I remember, because I thought it went completely against the aesthetic of the words and the meaning behind the song. So, I sulked off for a little bit [...] So, when I came back, yeah, it had a basic drum pattern and the baseline[sic] and that was all. And I still wasn’t convinced. But Flood said to me, ‘Could you just try playing some guitar along to it?’ So, I played along and then I came up with a guitar line for it. And then the kind of choir part. And then it kind of started making a bit more sense to me.

I’d like to take this moment to apologize to Alan and Flood.

— Martin Gore - Parklife DC - 26 April 2019

'Enjoy The Silence' was originally a slow track, a ballad almost, as a demo but I think Alan and Flood really believed that there was something else to get out of that track as an uptempo number. Martin was definitely against the idea because it was his song and that’s how he’d heard it, but he said, “Okay, you do it and we’ll see.” I remember coming to visit them in the studio and Fletch and Martin being very excited, saying, “Dan, we’ve got to play you this track!” We went to one of the little rooms to the side of the studio, they played me “Enjoy the Silence”, which was half-finished and I just went, “This is going to be huge.” It was just a perfect pop song, absolutely great. This was the version, by the way, that Martin had written and Alan and Flood had worked on to make it what it was. — Daniel Miller - Electronic Beats, 2013

From: Josh

Q: When Martin gave you the 'Enjoy The Silence' demo, what made you figure it would be good if it was sped up? Did you slow or speed up any other songs?

A: Strangely, the thing that immediately came to mind was that I could hear Neil Tennant singing it in my head. Something about the line "All I ever wanted" sounded very hamster.....er.... Pet Shop to me. Most DM songs changed tempo to some degree from the original demo although none I can think of have been that extreme.

Martin's demos always had a complete set of lyrics but musically they varied from sometimes being quite detailed to sometimes very simplistic. I felt that to have taken the simple ballad approach for this song would have been to criminally pass on it's massive commercial potential. It was a great tune crying out for the kind of treatment it eventually got. Flood and I worked on the backing track before calling Martin in to play the guitar riff. As the track came together, I think it dawned on everyone (even Martin, who had been the most reluctant about taking the up-tempo route) that we had a hit on our hands. — Alan Wilder - recoil.co.uk

I thought the very nature of the song was, you know, enjoy the silence, so it ought to have a very serene atmosphere. It took me a while to get used to the idea, but as we took it further that way with the guitar riff, it really pulled together.

— Martin Gore - Select, December 1990

Dave Gahan: "I remember [Martin] sitting there and playing it, and he came up with this riff, and then I sang the song and everyone was surprised that I sang it so well - including myself." Andrew Fletcher: "It's the first time ever in our whole career that we've actually thought we've got a hit single. We just knew straight away."

— Dave Gahan, Andrew Fletcher - EPKMUTEL5

From: Electric cafe

Q: F. Kevorkian mixed all the Violator album but for 'Enjoy The Silence' you preferred to release the Miller/ Flood and Miller / Legg mixes. What's the reason? Is it true that you don't like the sound of the guitar in the Kevorkian one?

A: Well, to be accurate, we mixed the LP together with Francois. Personally, I don't think there's much wrong with our mix of 'Enjoy The Silence'. The guitar sounds fine and the overall sound has a bit more sparkle. Daniel had a bee in his bonnet about the mix and felt very strongly that he could do better. We let him have a go and after 2 or 3 attempts (as you can see from the credits) decided that his mix was acceptable for the 7" version. Had he not pushed for it, I think we would have happily gone with the original mix. Funnily enough, our most successful single ever was one of the flattest, dullest sounding mixes with a snare drum that sounds like a sticky toffee pudding.

— Alan Wilder - recoil.co.uk

The only thing about [François Kevorkian's mixing] was that, while the record was great, I wasn’t happy with 'Enjoy the Silence' as it was. I had real demo-itis about it. I’d heard this rough version which they’d done, and in my head, that’s how it had to sound. So I said, 'Look, I love the album, but I’m not feeling the way 'Enjoy the Silence' is at the moment. Can I go off and mix it with somebody else just to try it?' So, I went off with a guy called Phil Legg, who was an engineer I’d worked with, and did it the way I’d always heard it. I think they were so burned out by the end—it took a long time making that record—that they said, 'Okay, whatever you say,' and they used that version.

— Daniel Miller - Electronic Beats - 2013

Gahan recalled the group's excitement during the song's production:

I remember [Martin Gore] sitting there and playing it, and he came up with this riff, and then I sang the song and everyone was surprised that I sang it so well – including myself. And then we spent like a week trying to make it into something: 'Oh wow! I think this could be a single!' and 'What about if we do this and do that,' and 'Maybe we’ll have to redo the drum pattern,' and 'Mart, you could play the guitar a bit better.' And in the end, of course, we come right round, like full circle, and it’s just like, 'Well, it sounded really good the first day we recorded it.'

— Dave Gahan - EPKMUTEL5

As with prior singles, Daniel Miller mixed the 7" version, which went on to win the Brit Award for 'Single Of The Year' as voted for by Radio 1 listeners — a stark contrast with the group's normally lukewarm reception with audiences in their home country. To illustrate their reciprocally lukewarm enthusiasm for the music media, Depeche Mode collectively boycotted the award presentation. Alan Wilder recalls in a Violator editorial on Shunt, the official Recoil site: "We were all pretty like-minded about avoiding industry-based award ceremonies. Best left to Sting and Elton."

Lyrics

Enjoy The Silence

Words like violence

Break the silence

Come crashing in

Into my little world

Painful to me

Pierce right through me

Can't you understand

Oh my little girl

All I ever wanted

All I ever needed

Is here in my arms

Words are very unnecessary

They can only do harm

Vows are spoken

To be broken

Feelings are intense

Words are trivial

Pleasures remain

So does the pain

Words are meaningless

And forgettable

All I ever wanted

All I ever needed

Is here in my arms

Words are very unnecessary

They can only do harm

Enjoy the silence

Songwriter: Martin L. Gore
Publishing Information: ©1990 Grabbing Hands Music Ltd/EMI Music Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Music video

Original version

Main article: Enjoy The Silence (official music video)

Directed by Anton Corbijn. The music video for 'Enjoy The Silence' features Dave Gahan dressed as a king carrying a folding deck chair. Through a series of landscape shots, Gahan is seen roaming solemnly through lush, remote vistas in humble search of a quiet place to sit, interspersed with quick cuts of black and white footage featuring the band and stylized photographs of the iconic Violator rose. The video uses an officially unreleased (in audio form, unreleased as of November 2019) edit of the album version of 'Enjoy The Silence', featuring an alternate introduction comprised of the outro choir melody, harpsichord-like stabs, bass stabs, the primary choir stabs, a hi-hat pattern, and snare.

Edited versions

There are two edits of the 'Enjoy The Silence' music video. One version begins with Fletcher looking to his right, with various shots of Gahan mouthing the lyrics directly to the camera intercut with long shots of him roaming the Scottish Highlands, Praia Da Prainha beach, and the Swiss Alps. The video concludes with a shot of Gahan dressed in costume singing the line "Enjoy the silence", before putting a finger to his lips.

The second version features Martin L. Gore looking to his right in the opening moments. In this version, the shots of Gahan singing to the viewer are cut, leaving only two scenes in which he sings the lines "Words are very unnecessary - They can only do harm." The video concludes with a shot of Gahan unfolding and sitting on his deck chair in the snow while the final line "Enjoy the silence" brings the song to a close. Some minor differences in the black and white group footage exist between the two versions of the video.

Marketing and Promotion

1990-03-24 - Champs-Elysées World Trade Center TV Promo

On 24 March 1990, Depeche Mode filmed a promotional video featuring the band members miming to the album version of 'Enjoy The Silence' on the rooftop observation deck of Two World Trade Center for French variety show Champs-Elysées.

Gallery

• 

  Dave Gahan on the rooftop observation deck of Two World Trade Center on 24 March 1990.
  Image retrieved via Facebook group “Depeche Mode Classic Photos And Videos”. Courtesy of Michael Lyons.

• 

  Martin Gore and Daryl Bamonte on the rooftop observation deck of Two World Trade Center on 24 March 1990.
  Image retrieved via Facebook group “Depeche Mode Classic Photos And Videos”. Courtesy of Michael Lyons.

• 

  Andrew Fletcher on the rooftop observation deck of Two World Trade Center on 24 March 1990.
  Image retrieved via Facebook group “Depeche Mode Classic Photos And Videos”. Courtesy of Michael Lyons.

• 

  Martin Gore on the rooftop observation deck of Two World Trade Center on 24 March 1990.
  Image retrieved via Facebook group “Depeche Mode Classic Photos And Videos”. Courtesy of Michael Lyons.

• 

  Dave Gahan on the rooftop observation deck of Two World Trade Center on 24 March 1990.
  Image retrieved via Facebook group “Depeche Mode Classic Photos And Videos”. Courtesy of Michael Lyons.

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "Enjoy The Silence"

Main article: List of dates where "Enjoy The Silence" was played

Trivia

• A cover of 'Enjoy The Silence' is featured in season one episode six of The CW drama series The Vampire Diaries. The song is also featured in 2012 Canadian romantic drama film Laurence Anyways.
• 'Enjoy The Silence' has been covered by Bartrek (1992), The Johns Hopkins University Octopodes (1995), Norton's (1995), SYZYGY (1995), The Escape (1996), Failure (1998), Tori Amos (2001), No Use for a Name (2001), Ágnes Vanilla (2001), Flesh Field (2001), Evergreen Terrace (2002), Dave Gold (2002), Caater (2002), Nullsleep (2002), Inscape (2003), Talla 2XLC (2003), Swift (Hardcore) (2003), Vitamin String Quartet (2003), Pat MacDonald (2003), Dead Souls Rising (2003), F...Etc (2005), It Dies Today (2005), Tanghetto (2005), Eggshell Boy (2005), Oberon (2005), Sylvain Chauveau and Ensemble Nocturne (2005), Lacuna Coil (2006), Texas Lightning (2006), Anberlin (2006), Scala & Kolacny Brothers (2006), Dolapdere Big Gang (2006), Janita (2006), Ryan Star (2006), Susanna and the Magical Orchestra (2006), Keane (2007), Moriarty (2007), Morphology (2007), Orleya (2007), Exilio (2008), Fragmentos Industriales (2008), Graham Blvd (2008), Cluster (Italy) (2008), Sub-Level 03 (2008), Gregorian (2009), Star Industry (2009), Marco Rochowski (2009), DJ Ino feat. Silent Djazz (2009), Sue Ellen (2009), Red Blooded Women (2009), Gracias X La Música (2009), Nada Surf (2010), Lisa Wahlandt (2010), Memento feat. Ken Spector (2010), Bebo Best, Evelins and Mr. Lova (2010), The Brains (2010), Breaking Benjamin (2011), Susan Boyle (2011), Patti Austin (2011), Alessandro Deledda (2011), Radiottanta (2011), Rockabye Baby! (2012), Mademoizelle Fizz (2012), Valerio Rinaldi (2013), Los Auténticos Decadentes (2013), Erdinc Erdogdu feat. Kivanch K (2013), Parralox (2013), Trevor Something (2014), Space March (2014), Denmark + Winter (2014), Music Box Mania (2014), Herbert Weixelbaum (2014), Daniel Dobbs and Weebl (2015), Music Legends (2015), White Noon (2015), Acousticman Chillout (2015), One-Eyed Doll and Eyes Set to Kill (2016), Damian Bermudez (2016), Chateau Pop (2017), Carla Bruni (2017), Acoustic ChillMan and Seba Gaido (2017), Ki:Theory (2017), Were I Blind (2017), and Tulia (2018).
• 'Enjoy The Silence' has been sampled in the following songs and remixes by Depeche Mode and other artists:
  • 'The Silence' - Mike Koglin (1998)
  • 'Silence' - Kyle Lucas (2008)
  • 'The Silence' - Sorcerer (1993)
  • 'The Voice' - Bad Company UK (2001)
  • 'Strangelove (Remix)' - Depeche Mode (1992)
  • 'Love Is The Power' - DJ Maxwell (2010)
  • 'Enjoy the Silence' - Yvan & Dan Daniel (2007)
  • 'Duke Duvet' - Saint Etienne (1993)
  • 'World in My Eyes (Ultimix)' - Depeche Mode (1990)
  • 'All I Ever Wanted (Main Version)' - Da Mode (2004)
  • 'Freelove (Deep Dish Freedom Remix)' - Depeche Mode (2001)
  • 'The Silence' - Luca Debonaire and DJ Marlon (2018)
  • 'Cuts Like Fire' - Cinnamon Chasers (2011)
  • 'The Silence' - DJ Demand (2001)
  • 'Enjoy the Silence (Arkus P Remix)' - Arkus P (2005)
  • 'Digital Graveyard // 忘れ物はありません' - DJ NB (2016)
  • 'Silence Is Loud (SRB Remix)' - DJ Dione (2011)

Depeche Mode songs released as singles 1981-1985: Dreaming Of Me • New Life • Just Can't Get Enough • See You • The Meaning Of Love • Leave In Silence • Get The Balance Right • Everything Counts • Love In Itself • People Are People • Master And Servant • Blasphemous Rumours / Somebody • Shake The Disease • It's Called A Heart 1986-1989: Stripped • But Not Tonight • A Question Of Lust • A Question Of Time • Strangelove • Never Let Me Down Again • Behind The Wheel • Little 15 • Personal Jesus 1990-1998: Enjoy The Silence • Policy Of Truth • World In My Eyes • I Feel You • Walking In My Shoes • Condemnation • In Your Room • Barrel Of A Gun • It's No Good • Home • Useless • Only When I Lose Myself 2001-2009: Dream On • I Feel Loved • Freelove • Goodnight Lovers • Precious • A Pain That I'm Used To • Suffer Well • John The Revelator / Lilian • Martyr • Wrong • Peace • Fragile Tension / Hole To Feed 2013-2017: Heaven • Soothe My Soul • Should Be Higher • Where's The Revolution • Going Backwards • Cover Me 2023: Ghosts Again Recoil songs released as singles 1992-1998: Faith Healer • Drifting • Stalker / Missing Piece 2000-2008: Strange Hours • Jezebel • Prey • Allelujah Dave Gahan songs released as singles 2003-2008: Dirty Sticky Floors • I Need You • Bottle Living / Hold On • A Little Piece • Kingdom • Saw Something / Deeper And Deeper 2012-2015: Longest Day • Take Me Back Home • All Of This And Nothing • Shine Martin Gore solo songs released as singles 1989-2003: Compulsion • Stardust • Loverman 2012-2015: Spock • Single Blip • Aftermaths • Europa Hymn • "Pinking" (Christoffer Berg Remix) Official releases Studio albums • Live albums • Compilation albums • Video albums • Singles