Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence has easily become one of the band’s most recognisable songs, but it didn’t begin its musical journey in the form we know today.
Depeche Mode were one of the early synth-pop pioneers. Original member Vince Clarke was responsible for penning much of the band’s best-known early output, along with the production stylings of groundbreaking producer, Daniel Miller.
Clarke’s departure, after their first album, resulted in Martin Gore taking over lead songwriting duties, and with this subtle change in personnel, so came a change in sound. Their output became darker and more industrially-tinged, with less use of pop-oriented sounds and harmonies. Yet it was a sound that found mass appeal, and provides us with some excellent points for analysis. Enjoy the Silence exemplifies this balance perfectly.
Martin Gore composed the song, originally demoing it as a form of ballad. Upon playing the demo to the band in the studio, fellow band member Alan Wilder and producer Flood persuaded Gore to raise the tempo of the song, to the speed that we now recognise.
“Strangely, the thing that immediately came to mind was that I could hear [Pet Shop Boys’ vocalist] Neil Tennant singing it in my head - something about the line ‘All I ever wanted’ sounded very hamster… er, Pet Shop to me!” said Wilder in the book Stripped: Depeche Mode. “It occurred to me that it could work brilliantly as a sort of up-tempo dance track.”
“I think it dawned upon everyone, that we had a hit on our hands,” continued Wilder
As part of the persuasion process, Flood also suggested that Gore compose a guitar riff which, as we all now know, became an essential hook in the song.
“That’s one of the most magical moments I’ve ever had with Depeche Mode,” the late Andy Fletcher remarked in the same book.“We were in PUK Studios in Denmark, and we had this ballad called Enjoy The Silence, and we just decided to speed it up; then Martin got the guitar out and put this riff in, and within an hour we knew we had a massive hit record!”
A quick scan of Depeche Mode's overall output reveals them to be masters of recognisable riffs, often using several simultaneously. In this instance, the repeated guitar refrain became an intrinsic part of the song, along with the haunting harmony.
Enjoy the Silence is firmly rooted in the key of C minor, with the second chord of the song being Eb major. These two chords have a close association; Eb major is the relative to C minor, and vice versa, and the song relies heavily on these two chords from the outset. It creates a warm and inviting backdrop before we hear the guitar riff pepper the top of the arrangement.
As we move into the verse structure, the harmony takes a really interesting twist.
The first chord remains C major, but this is followed in the second bar by Eb minor, not major! This shift to a chord which is not associated with the home key, is described as a non-relative chord or harmony. It also explains why it feels ever-so-slightly ‘uneasy’.
In the third and fourth bar of the verse, we have two bars of Ab Major, before the sequence repeats again.
The movement in the synth choir keyboard part is also interesting, as it adopts parallel movement. This means that the entire chord is shifted en masse, note for note, rather than using inversions, which compounds the enigmatic harmony.
Of course, this beautiful backdrop also serves to support the haunting vocal which flows over the top. This also teases the harmony, reinforcing its non-relative status.
As we move into the chorus, we have a slight change to the harmony, beginning with a chord of F minor, moving to a chord of Ab major. We then return to a chord of C minor, which subtly shifts to a chord of Eb major in a second inversion.
This sequence repeats, but with a masterful alteration to the last chord. Instead of reusing Eb major, Gore shifts from C minor to Cb major - also enharmonically described to B major, though theoretically more accurate here as Cb major.
We could try to articulate this shift between C minor and Cb major in a number of fanciful ways; unnerving, enigmatic, mysterious? But on a technical level it is simply another example of non-relative harmony.
The connecting note here is Eb. It is the 3rd in a chord of C minor, but also the major 3rd in a chord of Cb major. The shared emphasis of the 3rd in the chord is one of song’s most beautiful anomalies.
As the song unfolds, we hear a repeat of the introduction, verse or chorus sections, at various points, although as a produced construct, the song is relatively static in movement and structure.
By the band’s own admission, it was recorded fairly quickly, and it was decided that the simplicity in production was one of its strengths, so it was left in this simplistic state as a consequence. It does however employ layers to invoke a sense of build.
At first, when we hear the guitar riff, it is on its own, but when it returns later in the song, it is doubled by a synth brass part. It's a similar story with the synth choir, which begins in a solo form, before being bolstered by other synth sounds, entering a beat and a half later albeit an octave higher.
We would cite the synth choir as a form of simple hook too, along with the better-known guitar riff. There are also high synth chime parts, playing with octaves, before we hear another synth vocal sound supplying a counter melody at the very end.
The drum part, which is largely supplied by 808 and 909 drum sounds, is also relatively simple. Beginning with just a kick and off-beat hi-hat, a huge-sounding 909 snare makes its first entry only once we reach the first chorus section, adding another layer of build, before a two-bar percussion break at the end of the chorus, using Latin drum machine sounds.
The pulsing bass part supports the harmony, but at first listen, it almost sounds randomised. Employing a sequenced filter cutoff from the ARP 2600, there is significant control of the ‘squelch’ element, ensuring that it’s always uniform and controlled. We can also hear some heavily processed pianistic sounds, which play later in the song, adding to the build while providing a sense of sustain in the bass.
Enjoy the Silence only ever reached number 6 in the UK chart, although it was also a big hit in America. It has easily become one of Depeche Mode's most recognisable hits, which is no small feat for a relatively simple song which relies on non-relative harmony.
We hope you enjoyed the theory!
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