Enjoy the Silence

"Enjoy the Silence"
Single by Depeche Mode
from the album Violator
B-side	"Memphisto" "Sibeling"
Released	16 January 1990[1]
Format	7" 12" cassette CD
Recorded	1989 at Puk Studios (Denmark) and Logic Studios (Milan, Italy)[2]
Genre	Synthpop dance-pop[3]
Length	4:16
Label	Mute
Songwriter(s)	Martin Gore
Producer(s)	Depeche Mode Flood
Depeche Mode singles chronology
"Personal Jesus" (1989) "Enjoy the Silence" (1990) "Policy of Truth" (1990)
"Personal Jesus" (1989) "Enjoy the Silence" (1990) "Policy of Truth" (1990)
Music video
"Enjoy the Silence" on YouTube
Violator track listing
"Waiting for the Night" (5) "Enjoy the Silence" (6) "Policy of Truth" (7)

"Enjoy the Silence" is a song by the English electronic band Depeche Mode, taken from their seventh studio album, Violator (1990). The song was recorded in 1989 and released on 16 January 1990 as the album's second single.

The single is Gold certificated in the US and Germany.^[4] The song won Best British Single at the 1991 BRIT Awards.^[5]

"Enjoy the Silence" was re-released as a single in 2004 for the Depeche Mode remix project Remixes 81–04, and was titled "Enjoy the Silence (Reinterpreted)" or, more simply, "Enjoy the Silence 04".

B-sides

There are two instrumental B-sides to "Enjoy the Silence". "Sibeling" (the 12" B-side) is a soft piano-tune while "Memphisto" (the 7" B-side) is a darker, eerier track. The title of "Sibeling" refers to Finnish classical composer Jean Sibelius. According to Martin Gore, "Memphisto is the name of an imaginary film about Elvis as a Devil, that I created in my mind".^[6]

Music videos

Original versions

The Anton Corbijn-directed music video for "Enjoy the Silence" references the themes and storyline of the philosophical children's book The Little Prince. Footage of Dave Gahan dressed as a stereotypical king wandering the hillsides of the Scottish Highlands, the coast of Algarve in Portugal and finally the Swiss Alps with a deck chair is intercut with black-and-white footage of the band posing. Brief flashes of a single rose (which is also on the album cover of Violator) appear throughout the scenes.

When Corbijn presented the concept of the video to the band, which at the time was simply "Dave dressed up as a king, walking around with a deck chair", they initially rejected it. They changed their minds, when he explained that the idea was that the King (Dave) represented "a man with everything in the world, just looking for a quiet place to sit"; a king of no kingdom. Andy Fletcher jokes that he favoured the video because "[he] only had to do about an hour's worth of work".

The video uses a slightly different mix of the album version of the song (the most notable difference being a new and extended introduction) that has not been released in any audio format. The final long shots of the king walking through the snow are not Gahan but rather the video's producer, Richard Bell. Gahan had left the set, tired of the cold in Switzerland (recounted by Gahan in the intro to The Videos (86-98) and to the DVD of The Best of Depeche Mode Volume 1).

There are in fact two edited versions of the Corbijn-directed video. One version - which appears to be the earlier version - begins with Andy Fletcher looking towards his right as the song begins. Shots of Dave Gahan dressed as a king singing directly to the camera are intercut with scenes of his walking through the Scottish Highlands, the coast of Portugal and the Swiss Alps. The video ends with Gahan singing the last line, "Enjoy the silence.", then putting his finger in front of his lips as if to quiet the viewer.^[7] The other version begins with Martin Gore looking to his right as the song begins. This version omits the shots of Gahan singing directly to the camera. The video ends with Gahan sitting on a deck chair in the snow while the last line, "Enjoy the silence.", is sung.^[8] There are also differences in the group shots of the band standing together between the two versions.

Promo video

In 1990, a promotional video for "Enjoy the Silence" was shot by French TV (for the TV Show "Champs-Élysées" with Michel Drucker) featuring Depeche Mode lip-synching the song while standing atop the World Trade Center at the WTC rooftop World observatory, south Tower #2.^[9]

Personnel

• David Gahan - lead vocals
• Martin Gore - electric guitar, backing vocals
• Alan Wilder - keyboard, drum machine
• Andrew Fletcher - keyboard

Track listing

Reception

Pitchfork Media included the song at number 15 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s.^[10] In a review, Tim Di Gravina wrote that Enjoy the Silence is one of Depeche Mode's "greatest songs" with a "pristine and lush yet punishing musical environment" and "lyrics of violence and darkness".^[11] Di Gravina wrote the song is a "love song" as the narrator seems unable to form loving relationships with anyone, and demands silence from the world as "words are meaningless and forgettable", clashing into his world.^[12] The very act of communication where "words are meaningless and forgettable" causes the narrator so much pain, thus leading him to seek silence and to hide himself away as the only form of happiness he can find.^[13] Another reviewer Stephen Gore noted the juxtaposition on Violator between Enjoy the Silence-where the narrator wants silence from the world as words are "like violence"-and the next song Policy of Truth which argues that a successful relationship can only be based on lies.^[14] A popular theory holds that the song's lyrics "All I ever wanted, All I ever needed, Is here in my arms" refers to injecting heroin which Gahan was addicted at the time, but it has been pointed out that the song was written by Gore, who did not have a heroin problem.^[15]

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (1990) Peak position Australian ARIA Singles Chart[16] 71 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[17] 13 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[18] 4 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] 14 Canada Dance (RPM)[20] 5 Denmark (Tracklisten)[21] 1 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[22] 3 France (SNEP)[23] 9 Germany (Official German Charts)[24] 2 Ireland (IRMA)[25] 3 Italy (FIMI)[26] 5 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[27] 5 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[28] 40 Spain (AFYVE)[29] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[30] 5 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 2 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[32] 6 US Billboard Hot 100[33] 8 US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[33] 6 US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[33] 1 Chart (2016) Peak position Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[34] 63

End of year charts End of year chart (1990) Position U.S. Billboard Hot 100[35] 66 Sales and certifications Region Certification Certified units/Sales Sweden (GLF)[36] Gold 25,000^ United States (RIAA)[37] Gold 500,000^ Germany (BVMI)[38] Gold 250,000^ United Kingdom (BPI)[39] Gold 400,000^ Italy (FIMI)[40] Platinum 50,000 ^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Cover versions

• In 1998, Failure covered the song for the Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses.
• A cover version of this song was on the Matthew Good Band EP Lo-Fi B-Sides in 1998 and subsequently on In a Coma in 2002.
• DJ Mike Koglin released a club version titled The Silence in 1998.
• Gothic metal band Entwine covered this song in 1999 for their album The Treasure Within Hearts.
• In 2001 Tori Amos released a version, reinterpreted from a woman's perspective, on her concept album Strange Little Girls.
• In November 2005, Sylvain Chauveau & Ensemble Nocturne released the album Down to the Bone, an acoustic tribute to Depeche Mode, which includes a cover of this song.^[41]
• Keane released a cover of this song as a B side to their single "A Bad Dream" in 2007.
• Alternative rock band Anberlin released a cover of this song on their 2007 album Lost Songs.
• Gregorian chant group Gregorian covered this song for their album Masters of Chant Chapter VII in 2009.
• Indie rock band Maritime performed a version of the song in April 2010 for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series.^[42]
• Hardcore psychobilly band the Brains covered this song for their 2010 album Undead Nation.
• Susan Boyle covered the song for her album Someone to Watch Over Me.
• Hybrid covered the song for their 2012 compilation album Classics.
• Ki Theory released a cover of the song in 2016. The cover was featured in a trailer for the 2017 film Ghost in the Shell.^[43]
• Trevor Something, a synthwave artist from Miami, covered the song on his mixtape Trevor Something Does Not Exist in 2014, and later commercially released the song as a single in 2016.
• French singer Carla Bruni released a cover on 18 May 2017. This version will be included in her next album French Touch to be released in October 2017.

Lacuna Coil version

"Enjoy the Silence"
Single by Lacuna Coil
from the album Karmacode
B-side	"Virtual Environment"
Released	June 2006
Format	CD, digital download, vinyl
Recorded	2005
Label	Century Media
Songwriter(s)	Martin Gore
Producer(s)	Waldemar Sorychta
Lacuna Coil singles chronology
"Our Truth" (2006) "Enjoy the Silence" (2006) "Within Me" (2007)
"Our Truth" (2006) "Enjoy the Silence" (2006) "Within Me" (2007)
Audio sample
"Enjoy the Silence" from Karmacode file help

"Enjoy the Silence" is the second single by Lacuna Coil from their album Karmacode. It made the New York Post's Top 100 Cover Songs list.^[44]

Music video

There is a UK version of the video and an International one. Both videos, shot with Closer music video on 12 March 2006, came out on June 2006, include the band performing in a dark room, but aside from that the UK version shows live clips of the London Forum show, while the International one shows scenes of a city (Portland, Oregon), the countryside, and a bay.

Charts

Track listings

There are three "volumes" of the single.

External links

• Single information from the official Depeche Mode web site
• Allmusic review
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
• Enjoy the Silence arranged by Eric Whitacre for SATB

References