Enjoy the Silence
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"Enjoy the Silence" is Depeche Mode's twenty-fourth UK single, released on February 5 1990, and the second single from the album Violator. It is one of Depeche Mode's most successful singles to date; its accessible music and lyrics have made it one of the band's most recognizable songs. "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". The "Reinterpreted" version was remixed by Mike Shinoda, of American rap metal band Linkin Park.
Background
When "Enjoy the Silence" was written by Martin Gore, it was intended to be a slow-paced ballad; the demo featured a harmonium with Gore singing. Alan Wilder saw hit potential in the track, and composed an upbeat tempo and structure for the song. The group liked it, and Gore added more himself together with Flood, notably the guitar parts heard throughout, though the final version includes David Gahan on vocals. The demo would later be remade into the "Harmonium" version (available on the limited edition 12" vinyl release), featuring Gore on vocals.Chart success
"Enjoy the Silence" quickly became one of the band's most successful singles and its highest charting since the early 80s. The single rocketed up the UK Singles Chart to #6, remaining there for three weeks. This was the band's highest charting single since "People Are People" peaked at #4 in 1984. Additionally, other than "People Are People", only two other singles released by the band had reached as high as #6: 1982's "See You" and 1983's "Everything Counts".In addition, the song reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, to date the only Depeche Mode single to achieve this status. At the time, the only other Depeche Mode single to hit the US Top 20 was "People Are People", which hit #13. The single also topped the US Modern Rock Tracks chart, another first for the band (as this chart had been created in 1988). The chart measures radio airplay on US modern rock stations.
"Enjoy the Silence 04" was almost equally successful in the UK, peaking at #7 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it reached #25 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play. In addition, the limited edition vinyl releases also charted, but due to the fact that their lead track was not "Enjoy the Silence", these releases charted separately. As a result, "Something to Do", the A-side to the L12 release, spent one week at #75 on the UK Singles Chart.
1990 chart trajectory
| UK Singles chart trajectory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chart position | 17 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 52 | 62 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2004 chart trajectory
| UK Singles chart trajectory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chart position | 15 | 24 | 41 | 67 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Song versions
The original release of the single included a wide variety of remixes. The standard 12" version of the song is the "Hands and Feet Mix", while the B-side of the 12" version included a dub mix called the "Ecstatic Dub". The limited edition 12" release included three more remixes: the aforementioned "Harmonium" version which follows the structure of the original demo, the "Bass Line" version, and the "Ricki Tik Tik Mix." The latter one is actually an edit omitting a synth part in the middle because Mute had to fit everything on a 3" CD. The boxed rerelease finally had the full version. One of the more unusual mixes is "The Quad: Final Mix" which expands the song to over fifteen minutes in length, making it the longest commercially available Depeche Mode track.
- [Depeche Mode "Enjoy the Silence" (1990)] ([file info])
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- * Problems listening to the file? See [Media helpmedia help].
"Enjoy the Silence 04" also included a variety of remixes of other Depeche Mode songs, including a Goldfrapp remix of the Violator track "Halo", a Black Strobe remix of the Some Great Reward track "Something to Do", a Cicada remix of the single "World in My Eyes", and a Rex the Dog remix of the Speak and Spell track "Photographic".
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" comes from Finnish classical composer Jean Sibelius. Regarding "Memphisto", according to Martin Gore, "Memphisto is the name of an imaginary film about Elvis as a Devil, that I created in my mind". [link] As such, the title is a combination of Memphis and Mephisto. "Sibeling" was produced by the combination of the band and Flood, who produced much of Depeche Mode's work from 1990 to 1993, while "Memphisto" was produced by the band alone.Music videos
The Anton Corbijn music video for "Enjoy the Silence" is one of the most well known Depeche Mode videos and a particular fan favourite. The video depicts lead singer David Gahan dressed as a royal king roaming valleys and mountains with a folding chair looking for a place to relax and "enjoy the silence". The video features a slightly different mix of the song (the most notable difference being an extended introduction) that has not been released in any audio format.There is an animated music video for "Enjoy the Silence 04", directed by Uwe Flade, who directed the video for David Gahan's "Bottle Living." Some monitors shown in the animation show excerpts of Enjoy The Silence of the live shows of Devotional and One Night In Paris.