Enjoy the Silence

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As someone who enjoys the music of Depeche Mode, I would love to think that they aren't oppressing anyone.

Too bad for me!

Depeche Mode is frequently guilty of oppression in the form of powerlessness.

Part of making people powerless is through--you guessed it--SILENCE.

Image from: martingore.proboards.com

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

Words are spoken to be broken

Feelings are intense, words are trivial

Pleasures remain, so does their 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

X3

Enjoy the silence

X3

Songwriters

GORE, MARTIN LEE

Published by

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Wait, isn't this just a romantic song about a love that is so intense that they have/need no words to express it? Maybe? I wish. And it COULD be that. But I need to step away from this as a fan and examine it from a critical point of view.

There are quite a few issues with this song.

This is told only from the singer's perspective. We can't know if the feeling is really mutual unless we hear from both parties involved. In fact, it may be argued that if he thinks the words will "come crashing in" to ruin his perfect world, that perhaps he knows that any words would be words of objection. The whole point of the song, it could be argued, is to eliminate any potential dissent.

Note also that he uses the word "I" instead of "we." That could be a sign that he is really in it for his own needs, not for the both of them.

Additionally, by saying, "Can't you understand, oh my little girl?" the singer is implying that she:

1. Doesn't understand, probably because she is simple-minded
2. Is his property
3. Is small, probably unimportant (except to him)
4. Is child-like, reliant upon others to take care of her and make decisions for her

Infantilizing someone like this is definitely a move to put them in less of a position of power.

The singer says that anything that could be said by the other person is "trivial," "forgettable," "meaningless," and will only "do harm." This is forcing powerlessness upon the other person. She is told, under the guise of romance, that her words don't matter. It is better for her to not speak at all.

She should enjoy the silence-- the powerlessness.

It's also worth mentioning that the imagery in the music video is him as a king, as showed above. This is important to consider, because people cannot question the king. The king can do what he wants, and enjoy the silence--the lack of power to question him--of his subjects.

I think we can agree that this is wrong. After all, silence is not consent!

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And this is just one example of Depeche Mode's oppression through forcing powerlessness upon others. I won't get too in-depth here, but just to make my point, let's look at some other questionable DM moments...

BLUE DRESS

Put it on

And don't say a word

Put it on

The one that I prefer

Put it on

And stand before my eyes

Put it on

Please don't question why

Can you believe

Something so simple

Something so trivial

Makes me a happy man

Can't you understand?

Say you believe

Just how easy

It is to please me

Because when you learn

You'll know what makes the world turn

Put it on

I can feel so much

Put it on

I don't need to touch

Put it on

Here before my eyes

Put it on

Because you realize

And you believe

Something so worthless

Serves a purpose

It makes me a happy man

Can't you understand

Say you believe

Just how easy

It is to please me

Because when you learn

You'll know what makes the world turn

Songwriters

GORE, MARTIN

Published by

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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It COULD be the singer marveling at the beauty of his lover in his favorite dress of hers.

But it could also be silencing a woman, once more, because all he needs from her is her beautiful appearance. It appears that he has selfish motives, saying that she should do this just to please him and not question why.

Then then there's this gem... I'm not posting the whole song, just clips from it.

MASTER AND SERVANT

...

Forget all about equality

Let's play master and servant

...

It's a lot like life

And that's what's appealing

If you despise, then throw away feeling

...

Domination's the name of the game

In bed or in life

They're both just the same

Except in one you're fulfilled

At the end of the day

Let's play master and servant

Let's play master and servant

... 

Songwriters

Gore, Martin

Published by

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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I don't think I need to explain this one. 

And I don't have to stop there. Take my word for it, I could probably show you oppression in almost all of their songs.

So, how can I still be a fan of Depeche Mode?

I think the important thing is that I am aware of the dark nature of a lot of their music, and I choose not to make the darkness a part of how I live my life, even though I choose to continue to listen to it. 

And as I hinted at before, I could also give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to some of their songs. We can choose how to interpret things sometimes--maybe it is totally creepy, but maybe it is actually just supposed to be romantic. 

It may be a stretch, but you get what I'm saying.

Basically, I enjoy their sound and tune out a lot of the lyrics. Call it a guilty pleasure, if you will. But if we were truly going to limit ourselves to media that included NO oppression whatsoever, I honestly don't think we could find anything to watch, read, or listen to. Sometimes, we have to just ignore the crappy facts of the things we enjoy. Whether or not that's morally acceptable, I'm honestly not sure. Many times I have wondered whether or not I should even listen to Depeche Mode, but despite my reservations, I still do. 

What do you think? Are guilty pleasures just a part of life? Or do we have the moral responsibility to identify and reject anything that contains or may contain oppressive material?

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