The Top "Pauses" in Rock Songs

Sometimes playing nothing at all can be one of the best things in a song. What is this pause? It’s a ‘violation of expectation’ used to build tension, which in turn creates excitement for the listener. Delaying an expected note in a song is a great trick that many guitarists, pianists, and other musicians use—and when a pause is structurally integrated, the effect can be tremendous.

Popular music producers such as Bob Clearmountain have used them to such effect that the 'Clearmountain Pause' is often referred to when talking about the device. It is an adage that 'silence is golden,' and if that's the case, here are some classic songs that have some golden moments by way of a deliberate pause.

Aerosmith — "Livin' on the Edge" (from Get a Grip)

The inspiration for this post: I was listening to this on the bus when the pause made me sit up and pay attention. The accompanying video famously starts with a nude Steven Tyler and ends with Edward Furlong sharing his sandwich with a bully. The pause lands at about the 3:30 mark. Just as the song is seemingly building to a massive peak, the pause drops in, leading to a singular drum beat and then the big moment. It is brilliant.

Oasis — "Wonderwall" & "Don't Look Back in Anger" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)

"Wonderwall" is easily my favorite song. Every time I pick up a guitar, I end up throwing a capo on the second fret and going for gold. The absolute golden moment in "Wonderwall" is the pause that comes just before the start of the second verse. At the 2:00 mark, Noel Gallagher delays the strum of the Em chord to perfection. When that chord finally chimes, it’s a piece of heavenly pop.

This next one is perhaps a bit of a cheat, but "Don't Look Back in Anger" is Noel's signature tune. He took lead vocals over Liam, and the track went straight to number one on the British charts. It features a great little drum fill that starts just after the solo. It’s the briefest of pauses, but the linking of the solo's end and the drum fill "feels" exactly like a pause. An incredible song moment at the 3:30 mark.

R.E.M. — "Everybody Hurts" (from Automatic for the People)

One of R.E.M.'s greatest singles, "Everybody Hurts" features Peter Buck playing simple arpeggio chords beneath Michael Stipe's soaring vocals. The song is heavily themed around grief and death. When the pause drops right after the line "you're not alone" at the 3:00 mark, it gives you time to sit and process those heavy emotions. When the arpeggio picks back up, it feels like life is giving you a gentle nudge to say: you're still here, come with us, you're hurting but you're not alone.

Semisonic — "Closing Time" (from Feeling Strangely Fine)

A track widely celebrated for its structural pause is "Closing Time" by Semisonic (a band that should never have broken up). Check out the pause just before the chorus at the 3:00 mark.

This is the song that features what is known as the 'Clearmountain Pause.' Semisonic's producer Nick Launay is quoted as saying:

"We had to have our mastering engineer, Bob Ludwig, create the pause by stretching the existing pause, layering it, making it as long as he could. Thereafter, we referred to that part of the song as the 'Clearmountain Pause.' At shows over the next few years, the pause got longer, and longer, and longer until it was a musical piece unto itself."

This legendary pause also inspired a book chapter in Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, which highlights famous pauses in rock music.

The B-52's — "Love Shack" (from Cosmic Thing)

"Tiiiiinnnnn rooooffff [PAUSE] rusted!!"

That is pretty much all you need to know about this classic. Kate Pierson delayed enunciating "rusted" oh so perfectly at the 3:44 mark, delivering a brilliant moment out of a seemingly nonsensical line about the shack. Rust never sleeps, I guess.

Billy Joel — "The River of Dreams" (from River of Dreams)

I loved this song when it came out. It was incredibly catchy, and its 4-second pause remains absolutely perfect. Coming off a funky, jivin' feel, the listener is left momentarily wondering where that good stuff went, only to be beautifully rescued by the vocal pickup: "in the middle of the night."

INXS — "Never Tear Us Apart" (from Kick)

This track represents another classic Clearmountain Pause. It features an incredibly bold silence that fits neatly between Michael Hutchence's lyric and a dramatic guitar riff. The overarching drama of the song is heavily elevated by the stark pauses placed directly before the instrumental breaks.

Foo Fighters — "Monkey Wrench" (from The Colour and the Shape)

This classic Foos track features many, many pauses. You could argue they are primarily due to the manner in which the guitars are played with a tight, stop-start feel. Check out the official video, which features classic Foo Fighters mischief, and decide for yourself:

Roxette — "The Look" (from Look Sharp!)

Anyone who has seen my CD collection knows there are a few periods of musical fandom I'd prefer the world didn't know about—but I am certainly not ashamed to admit I love Roxette. Luckily for this list, they have a brilliant pause in their breakthrough smash, "The Look." I warn you, the video is terribly dated and was probably quite terrible when it first came out. Ah, the 80s. Bless.

Honorable Mentions

Here are a few honorable mentions that are well worth exploring:

Song & Artist	The Pause Mechanism & Lore
"Faith" George Michael	The best bit of this track is the awesome organ introduction, but the structural pause itself is excellent. Grab your properly tuned acoustic guitar, play along, and decide for yourself.
"Paint It Black" The Rolling Stones	A quick, simple, yet highly effective choice: after the classic, snaking sitar riff, there is a slight delay before Charlie Watts' drums kick the song into gear.
"Purple Rain" Prince	A masterclass in dynamic tension on the legendary soundstage of the Purple Rain Soundtrack.
"March of the Pigs" Nine Inch Nails	Listen to the precise section where Trent Reznor sings "and doesn't it make you feel better," and you will immediately understand how silence is weaponized in industrial rock.
"Supervixen" Garbage	Commonly singled out as a masterclass in modern pauses. While this band of super-producers rock out, Shirley Manson cuts through with a seething, magnetic rage, only for the track to repeatedly hit dead silence.