Angels of the Silences

"Angels of the Silences" is a song by American alternative rock band Counting Crows. It is the lead single and second track from their second album, Recovering the Satellites (1996). The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, making it the highest-placing single from the album.

"Angels of the Silences"
Single by Counting Crows
from the album Recovering the Satellites
Released	September 24, 1996 (1996-09-24)
Recorded	Late 1996[1]
Studio	The Sound Factory (Los Angeles)[1]
Genre	Rock[2]
Length	3:37
Label	DGC, Geffen
Songwriter(s)	David Bryson, Adam Duritz, Charlie Gillingham, Matt Malley, Ben Mize, Dan Vickrey.
Producer(s)	Gil Norton
Counting Crows singles chronology
"A Murder of One" (1995) "Angels of the Silences" (1996) "A Long December" (1996)

Background

Adam Duritz said about that song (from Storytellers):

I write quite a few songs where the sort of issue is faith–having faith, keeping faith. And this song in particular is about the difficulty in having faith in things, and finding things to have faith in, in yourself, in God, in like he said, a woman. Faith is a weird thing, it in a sense it is all about waiting. It's not actually about getting anything, you know, faith is about the wait, because once you get something there is no need anymore. So a lot about faith is just the willingness to sort of throw yourself on a fence and hang there for a while. That's a very difficult and bitter thing, you know. In this song, I keep saying the main character, *I*, I said, "All my sins, I would pay for them if I could come back to you." It's not just about finding things to believe in, it's about wanting to be able to believe in anything too. And it's about all the voices that get inside your head and whisper for you to do it or not to do it as well. And it's called "Angels of the Silences."

Composition

Similar to the content of the rest of Recovering the Satellites, the song has a heavier sound than that of Counting Crows' debut, August and Everything After, incorporating distorted guitar riffs, blearier production, and higher emphasis on percussion to create a driving and dirty instrumental. The song is in the key of A-flat Minor, with a chord structure of i-(b)II-VI-III and a tempo of 160 BPM.^[3]

Track listing

CD single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Angels of the Silences"	3:39
2.	"Recovering the Satellites"	5:23
3.	"Round Here" (live)	11:53

Personnel

• David Bryson – guitar
• Adam Duritz – lead vocals
• Charlie Gillingham – Hammond B-3, background vocals
• Matt Malley – electric bass
• Ben Mize – drums
• Dan Vickrey – guitar

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1996) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[4] 77 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[5] 8 Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[6] 8 European Alternative Rock (Music & Media)[7] 7 Scotland (OCC)[8] 30 Spain Airplay (Music & Media)[9] 8 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[10] 55 UK Singles (OCC)[11] 41 US Radio Songs (Billboard)[12] 45 US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[13] 19 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[14] 3 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[15] 4

Year-end charts Chart (1996) Position US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)[16] 64 US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[17] 68 Chart (1997) Position US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)[18] 85

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United States	September 24, 1996	Contemporary hit radio	DGC	[19]
	September 30, 1996	Alternative radio		[20]
Japan	October 2, 1996	CD	Geffen	[21]
United Kingdom	October 7, 1996	CD cassette		[22]