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Song · Depeche Mode

“Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode

“Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode appears on 107 radio countdowns from 32 stations between 1990 and 2026. Its best result is #2 on the X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #4 alternative song of 1990, #39 alternative song of all time and #153 of the '90s.

107countdowns
32stations
#2best position
0#1 finishes
8top 10 finishes
1990–2026years charted

Watch

Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (DepecheModeVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Martin Gore wrote "Enjoy the Silence", Depeche Mode recorded it in 1989, and Mute sent it out early in 1990 as the second single from Violator, the band's seventh studio album, right behind "Personal Jesus". It is synth-pop with the lights down low, sleek and sorrowful at the same time, and it became the biggest-selling single the band ever had.

In America it got to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, higher than any other Depeche Mode single has gone there, while the Cash Box Top 100 had it at number two, and it went all the way to the top in Denmark, in Spain and on the European Hit Radio chart. At home it won them Best British Single at the 1991 Brit Awards.

Anton Corbijn directed the video, which sends singer Dave Gahan out across open country dressed up as a king, lugging a deckchair. "Policy of Truth" came next. The song has had a long afterlife: Billboard later ranked it the best Depeche Mode song of them all, and in 2004 it returned as a single, reworked for the Remixes 81–04 project as "Enjoy the Silence (Reinterpreted)".

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1990 2 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1990 107
1990 7 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1990 91
1990 2 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1990 105
1990 3 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON CFNY Top 90 Songs of 1990 90
2010 75 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2010 101

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 16 CRNC 90.1 CRNC Top 90.1 Songs of the '90s 91
1990 19 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) 299
1991 18 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) 302
1991 398 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1991 123 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1992 287 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1992 43 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1994 117 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 8 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1995 110 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1995 11 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995) 300
1996 126 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 144 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1998 73 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 44 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 77 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 17 Channel 104.9 Channel 104.9 Top 101 Songs of the '80s (February 1999) 104
1999 16 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 109 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 48 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 24 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 50 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 670 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 545 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
1999 74 The Buzz The Buzz Top 99 Songs of All-Time (1999) 99
2000 670 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 634 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 161 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 357 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 634 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 335 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 32 91X 91X Top 91 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 91
2003 252 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 634 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 96 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 283 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 634 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 40 Live 105 Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of the '90s (August 2005) 106
2005 220 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 631 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 442 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 127 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 26 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 159 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2006 70 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2006) 100
2006 47 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Resurrection Songs (December 2006) 107
2007 110 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 520 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2007 42 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2007) 100
2007 505 WTMD WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time 897
2008 142 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 505 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2008 51 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2008) 100
2009 323 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 512 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 49 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2009) 100
2010 126 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of the 90's (September 2010) 200
2010 523 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2010 54 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2010) 100
2011 495 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2011 81 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2011) 100
2012 71 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2012) 100
2012 408 WYEP WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown 500
2013 475 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 81 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2013) 100
2014 458 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 48 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2014) 100
2014 739 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) 885
2015 47 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2015) 100
2016 35 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2016) 100
2017 47 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2017) 100
2018 128 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs 892
2018 54 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2018) 100
2019 32 X96 X96's Top 100 Songs of the 90's 100
2019 36 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2019 48 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2019) 100
2020 50 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2020) 100
2020 247 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2020 300 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2021 610 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 4 107.7 The End The End Obligatory Top 100 Alternative Songs of All Time (2021) 100
2021 55 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2021) 100
2021 353 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 12 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 46 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2022) 100
2022 2 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2022 267 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2022 58 KEXP KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) 491
2022 302 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2023 55 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 3 91X 91X Top 91 Songs of The Last 40 Years 91
2023 429 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2023 223 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2023 54 ALT 104.5 ALT 104.5 Top 104 of ALT Time 104
2023 38 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2023) 100
2024 84 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2024 34 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2024) 100
2025 285 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s 500
2025 22 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (2025) 100
2026 187 KXT KXT 917 Song Countdown 917
2026 119 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180
2026 213 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Enjoy The Silence.

Charting alongside it in 1990

Best songs of 1990 →
  1. 1Nothing Compares 2 USinéad O'Connor
  2. 2The Only One I KnowThe Charlatans
  3. 3Blue Sky MineMidnight Oil
  4. 5Here's Where The Story EndsThe Sundays
  5. 6The Emperor's New ClothesSinéad O'Connor
  6. 7CandyIggy Pop

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