History Main / StopAndGo

!!Music Examples

!!Examples in Other Media
[[folder:Anime]]

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Punk]]

* "The Little Girl I Once Knew" by Music/TheBeachBoys does this twice. It was released as a single, but it didn't chart very well because radio disc jockeys were reluctant to play it due to its moments of dead air.

* Josh Homme must be fond of this, because Music/Kyuss's ''Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop'' fake stops a bunch at the very end of the song.

* Music/BigBlack's ''L.Dopa'' uses this one a few times.

* "[[http://youtu.be/s82ho7w9X6Q Overnight Sensation (Hit Record/Life's a Gas)]]" from the Raspberries has quite possibly the perfect example. It happens at 4:24.

** They also do it in "Child in Time" after the epic guitar solo, and in "Pictures of You."

* ''VideoGame/TouhouProject'': ZUN places a caesura in a few battle themes:

* "Intergalactic" by Music/BeastieBoys - "Beastie Boys known to let the beat" (1 second pause) "nnnn...DROP!"

[[folder:Avant-Garde]]
* "When Big Joan Sits Up" by Music/CaptainBeefheart, after the line "she's out of reach".
** "Blabber 'N Smoke": "It's gonna hang you all.... dangle you all".
* "The Doge's Palace" by Music/MikeOldfield begins with a short introduction. Then, before the main theme starts, there is a short pause.
[[/folder]]

* From ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has Alice's theme, the Prismriver Sisters' theme and Flandre's theme.

!!Music Examples:

!!Examples:

[[folder:Rock]]
* "Living on the Edge" by Music/{{Aerosmith}} comes to a complete stop for a few seconds between the final verse ("But we could tell 'em no/Or we could let it go/But I would rather be a-hangin' on") and the final chorus, with some drum pounds to mark the rhythm before the song continues.
* "No Matter What" by Badfinger.
* "The Little Girl I Once Knew" by Music/TheBeachBoys does this twice. It was released as a single, but it didn't chart very well because radio disc jockeys were reluctant to play it due to its moments of dead air.
* "I'm Only Sleeping" and "All My Loving" by Music/TheBeatles. ("Helter Skelter" doesn't count because it's a FakeOutFadeOut. Ditto "Rain" and "Strawberry Fields Forever".)
* "River of Dreams" by Music/BillyJoel does this toward the end. Joel would have fun with it during live renditions by seeing how far he could drag out the pause before the audience lost its patience.
** He did it during a Grammy ceremony as a protest after the network cut short a speech by '''Music/FrankSinatra''' because it wanted to go to commercial. During the pause, he quipped to the audience, "Valuable advertising time is going by."
* "Career of Evil" by Music/BlueOysterCult.
* Critical Mass' "Completely" stops for a second or so during the line "I give myself...completely."
* "Rock On" by David Essex.
* Music/DeepPurple do this in the live version of "Space Truckin'".
* Lampshaded by German punk band Die Ärzte in "Radio Brennt": "Stop!" ''[sound of deep breathing]'' "Weiter!" ("go on!").
* The Music/EltonJohn song "Island Girl" does this twice.
* Firehouse's "Lovers Lane", lampshaded in the lyrics themselves:
-->"My motor's runnin'/Yea, it's gettin' hot, I get overloaded overheated could explode I can't believe it we just gotta stop." ''[{{beat}}]'' ''[continues]''
* Music/FleetwoodMac's "The Chain" pauses for a couple of seconds before each verse, with each pause preceded by a sharp hi-hat just to emphasize it even more.

* Music/GreenDay's "Peacemaker" on ''Music/TwentyFirstCenturyBreakdown'' stops for a second in the middle for the guitar to find the right note to start the solo on.
* Music/{{Heart|Band}}'s "Magic Man" has one roughly 2/3 of the way through.
* Hedley's "Lose Control" says "everybody just stop...and bring it back around like..."
* "Need You Tonight" by INXS has a moment where the song comes to a halt, but not to complete silence: it's when Michael Hutchence sings "I'm lonely!" before the final chorus. In the middle of the line, the band stops, and there's a split second of silence before they go on again.

* Once after the chorus in The Kills' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgjXp3fIFLI Love is a Deserter]].
* Music/LaDispute do this twice in "Said the King to the River".
* Music/LedZeppelin's song "What is and What Should Never Be" has a couple of these.
** Also the song "Thank You".
** "Heartbreaker" from ''Music/LedZeppelinII'' ends mid-word before picking up on the next song in the album a half-second later, "Living Loving Maid", which is the second half of a SiameseTwinSong.
*** There are also a couple {{Stop And Go}}es within "Heartbreaker" itself.
** There are multiple pauses throughout "Nobody's Fault But Mine".
* Music/LeonardCohen's "Hallelujah" has a pause between two of the "Hallelujah"s towards the end in which all instruments stop.

* "Augen Auf" by Oomph!.
* Music/{{Queen}}'s "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" from ''Music/NewsOfTheWorldQueen'' are SiameseTwinSongs which are almost always played together as one piece, and, as such, the space between them (abrupt guitar riff ending, beat, cold intro vocals) sounds like a StopAndGo.

* Near the end of "53rd and 3rd" by The Music/{{Ramones}} from their album ''Music/{{Ramones|Album}}''.
** "Rockaway Beach" features a short pause before the drums come back in for the last chorus.
* "[[http://youtu.be/s82ho7w9X6Q Overnight Sensation (Hit Record/Life's a Gas)]]" from the Raspberries has quite possibly the perfect example. It happens at 4:24.
* Heavily layered on on the first verse of "She Calls This Love" by Music/ReeceMastin.
* Music/RobZombie's song "The Man Without Fear" has a stop and go in the beginning of the song, followed up with a "GO!"
* "The Look" by Music/{{Roxette}}.
* "1985" (originally by SR-71, [[CoveredUp but made popular by]] Music/BowlingForSoup): "Stop... stop... stop! [''moment of silence''] ...and bring back Springsteen, Madonna--"
* "Bodhisattva" by Music/SteelyDan.
* Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel: "Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile)"
* "Seven" by Music/SunnyDayRealEstate, during the verses--plays the main riff during each line, then stops for a moment between each one.
* Music/SystemOfADown does this at the ''very beginning'' of "Prison Song". One brief guitar chord -- a few seconds of silence -- then the song kicks in.
* Music/TenaciousD's [[https://youtu.be/slZVVtWWD0M?si=9LTnnw2uZ-2S3eCE Cosmic Shame"]] has KG play guitar while JB, in spoken word, encourages the members of the audience to quit their day jobs and pursue their artistic dreams. JB states that they will check back in on the audience in a few years to evaluate their progress, and will then either urge them to keep at it or to stop, at which point KG stops playing the guitar.
-->'''JB:''' Now, after a couple of years of you focusing earnestly on your craft, KG and I will swoop in, we will check out your progress, and we will encourage you to continue!\\
Or we will say stop.\\
''[KG abruptly stops playing guitar; {{Beat}}]''\\
And then, seriously, you must stop, or penalties will be created and enforced.
* Tommy James and the Shondells' "I'm Alive" comes to a sudden stop right before the two-minute mark, then waits a full two measures before resuming.
* Music/TheWho do this in "The Seeker" twice. The echo on Roger Daltrey's voice makes those moments all the more striking.
* Music/{{Wire}}'s [[Music/PinkFlag "Field Day For The Sundays"]] manages to fit three short ones in [[MinisculeRocking a 30-second song]].
* The Young Rascals' 1966 hit "Good Lovin'" has one of the better-known instances of this.

[[folder:Alternative/Indie/Progressive Rock]]
* This happens in Music/{{AFI}}'s song "The Despair Factor"--except Davey stops to say, "My whole life is a dark room. One. Big. Dark. Room." Then it carries on fast, as before.
* Music/ArcticMonkeys use this trope very often in their songs, with notable examples being "Brianstorm", "If You Were There, Beware", and "The View from the Afternoon".
* Music/BuiltToSpill actually end their song "In the Morning" with this.
* "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by Music/{{Cake}}. The music video has a VoxPops concept where people off the street listen to the song on headphones and react, and one listener is caught by surprise at this point because they thought it was just a very short song.
* Appropriately enough, "Dance Stop" by Music/DanielAmos, from the album ''Music/VoxHumana''. Just before each chorus, Terry shouts "Stop!" and all the instruments go silent. (According to the liner notes, the audience is supposed to freeze during this part.) Then everyone says "Aaaaaaaaaaah DANCE!" and the music starts back up again.
* "Jesus I Was Evil" by Darcy Clay does this before the last chorus.
* "I Looked at You" by Music/TheDoors is a great example.
* Music/EaglesOfDeathMetal, as another Josh Homme project, use this trope about as often as humanly possible. "I Only Want You" is the most striking example, featuring two of these in a less-than-three-minute song.
* Music/{{Eels}}' "Novocaine For The Soul" from ''Music/BeautifulFreak'' has a long awkward pause right before the bridge. It's fairly unexpected because it's not remotely a fast song.
* Used in Music/ElectricSix's "Improper Dancing", and explicitly called out by vocalist Dick Valentine: "Stop...continue!". In live performances they traditionally play with this by sandwiching an entirely different song between the "stop" and "continue", usually either "(Who The Hell Just) Call My Phone" or an unexpected CoverVersion.
* Music/ElvisCostello's ''God's Comic'' has a pause that feels like the end of the song before resuming with the second half of the last verse.
* Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer's "Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression (Part 1)" has a variation on this. During the line "We've got thrills and shocks, supersonic fighting cocks" the music cuts out completely for the duration of the word "shocks".
* Music/{{Garbage}}'s song "Supervixen" has a repeating one as a part of the main riff.
* "Stop!" by Music/JanesAddiction. Most songs named "Stop", really.
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ggbRTRDFOI&ob=av3e Freetime]]" by Kenna has this several times. The video has a BlackScreenOfDeath followed by a JumpCut to match the audio each time.
* Music/KingCrimson: [[Music/InTheWakeOfPoseidon "The Devil's Triangle"]] briefly comes to a stop at the end of the second movement, "Hand of Sceiron", only for a click track to start playing, which gives way to the even more chaotic third movement, "Garden of Worm".
* Done by Music/NeutralMilkHotel in "Ferris Wheel on Fire".
* Music/OrigamiAngel: ''Music/GamiGang'' has "Tom Holland Oates". After the line "close my eyes and count to ten", the background instrumental stops as the singer can be faintly heard counting. However, "nine, ten!" is screamed, and the music starts up again.
* "Can't Hardly Wait" by Music/TheReplacements briefly pauses twice, before the bridge and before the outro.
* "Radio Song" by Music/{{REM}} features a prominent pause after the last chorus before the vocals come back in to mark the outro.
* About 2/3's of the way through the extended jam coda of "I Am the Resurrection", the last track on Music/TheStoneRoses' eponymous debut, ''[[Music/TheStoneRosesAlbum The Stone Roses]]''.
* "Metal Mickey" by Music/{{Suede}} features a pause between the guitar solo and the chorus that follows.
* Music/TheyMightBeGiants do a version in their song "Older". [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdIRrmNN_CQ "And time...is still marching on."]] This is another case where the artist likes to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ltJ8kK4G90 stretch out the pause]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUadrO55B1I for as long as they can live]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upSh39Zo6k8 for comedic value]]. (And throw confetti.)

[[folder:Metal]]
* "This Dying Soul" and "Fatal Tragedy" of Music/DreamTheater are two examples.
* "Silence Is Sexy" by Music/EinsturzendeNeubauten takes several breaks in the middle of an already very slow song so we can hear Blixa Bargeld taking a drag on his cigarette before resuming.
* Music/InFlames' "Free Fall" features this before the first chorus: "This is the free faaaaallll!" ... "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The instruments drop out again right after that chorus, but the vocals stop it from being a second example.
* Before the final verse of "All Nightmare Long" by Music/{{Metallica}}.
** They also have them before the solo in "Sad But True" and before the final verse in "The God That Failed".
* The introduction to Sonata Arctica's "Misplaced" does this.
* Music/SymphonyX does this live on occasion.
* "The Love from a Dead Orchestra" by Music/{{Versailles}}.

[[folder:Pop]]
* "3 O'Clock Things" by Music/{{AJR}} has this happen near the end. After the last lyric ("That if you're [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] racist/ then don't come to my show") the music stops for a few seconds, then one of the members then says "No, we have to do one more" and the song continues for about 30 seconds.
* Music/AlanisMorissette's "All I Really Want": "Why are you so terrified of silence? Here can you handle this?" followed by two seconds of silence. Then the song continues.
* Music/{{Aqua}}'s song "Be A Man" goes quiet right when the lyrics go "when everything stops..."
* Music/BritneySpears' cover of The Arrows' "I Love Rock N' Roll" does this.
* Music/BrunoMars' "Uptown Funk" tells us "NOW STOP!... Wait a minute -- fill my cup, put some liquor in it!"
* [[https://youtu.be/3EgWvPfzVQI?t=1m6s "Evidence"]] by Daisy x Daisy.
* "Stop and Think It Over" by Dale & Grace.
* Music/EdSheeran's "Give Me Love".
* "Ice" by Music/{{Lights}} does this after the line "My mouth is frozen so I can't even speak".
* Music/JasonMraz's "Wordplay" has a break of less than half a second in the line "Pull out the stops -- got your attention!" It's more than enough to get the listener's attention.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8DKD0PoRSI This]] live version of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" by Music/MichaelJackson has a huge pause in it about halfway through.
* The second verse of Music/{{Pink}}'s "Sober" does this immediately after a line that says "I don't wanna be the girl that has to fill the silence" for about 3 seconds.
* Notably averted by the Music/SpiceGirls in their song "Stop".
* "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Music/TaylorSwift.

[[folder:Electronic]]
* Music/{{Goldfrapp}}'s "Oompa Radar" stops at a somewhat reasonable point, complete with a quick outro. It then rumbles loudly back into action totally unexpectedly after a few long seconds.
* "Party Rock Anthem" by Music/{{LMFAO}} does this twice. The first is after the second chorus: the music cuts out just before the final line, which then echoes out into silence, Redfoo delivers the memetic "Every day I'm shufflin'" line... and ''then'' the music starts back up again. (The music video matches this by cutting to black when the music stops, and cutting back for the "Every day I'm shufflin'".) The second is lampshaded by a cry of "Stop!" -- there's a second of silence, then "Hatin' is bad", then the music starts up again.
* The song "Logic" by Logic System (pet project of Hideki Matsutake, better known for his work with Music/YellowMagicOrchestra) does this rather abruptly about halfway through. After a few seconds (''just'' long enough to make the listener uncomfortable and wonder what's wrong with their stereo or computer or whatever) it starts up again as if nothing happened.
* Music/MindlessSelfIndulgence LOVES this trope.

[[folder:New Wave/Avant Garde]]
* "When Big Joan Sits Up" by Music/CaptainBeefheart, after the line "she's out of reach".
** "Blabber 'N Smoke": "It's gonna hang you all.... dangle you all".
* "God's Comic" by Music/ElvisCostello.
* Music/{{Fugazi}}'s "Waiting Room": somewhat unusually this happens before the lyrics even start. It lasts exactly as long as you think it would (8 beats), ends with a full bar of tom buildup, and comes back in with the same exact dynamics as before. It seems to pretty much just be a manufactured moment for crowds to just scream their heads off. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools And it's awesome]].
* ''The Doge's Palace'' by Music/MikeOldfield begins with a short introduction. Then, before the main theme starts, there is a short pause.

[[folder:Classical]]
* Music/AaronCopland does this approximately two to two-and-a-half minutes into "Hoedown" from his ballet, ''Rodeo.''
* Music/JohannSebastianBach does this in the third stanza of the {{cantata}} ''Christ lag in Todes Banden'' (BWV 4), in which the music stops on the word "nicht" (nothing remains) before continuing. He also does this in a number of fugues, generally in the initial statement of the theme, e.g., the fugues from the D Major Prelude and Fugue for organ (BWV 532), and from the C Major Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue (BWV 564).
* OlderThanRadio: Johann Strauss does this near the end of "By the Beautiful Blue Danube".
* A fairly obscure example: "A Cowboy Symphony" by Pierre La Plante.
* Music/LudwigVanBeethoven's variations for solo piano on the arietta "Es war einmal ein alter Mann" by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf ([=WoO=] 66) has one measure of sudden silence right in the middle of the theme. This bar of silence is consistently carried over in Beethoven's thirteen subsequent variations; the fifth and ninth variations take the opportunity to switch to a different tempo and meter for the ensuing five-bar modulation from the dominant back to the tonic key.

[[folder:Jazz]]
* "Gloomy Sunday", a Hungarian song that was popularized by Music/BillieHoliday's cover of it, actually pulls three of these.
* "Moanin'" by Music/CharlesMingus has one that forces a transition from a chaotic section of the song where literally every wind player is soloing at once back to a rockin' bari sax riff.
* "In The Mood" by Music/GlennMiller was an early example.

[[folder:Novelty]]
* "I Like Traffic Lights" by Creator/MontyPython plays this to ratchet the irritation and EarWorm factor up.
* "How Sweet to Be an Idiot" by Neil Innes.

!!Other Examples:
[[folder:Anime]]
* The opening for ''Manga/{{Barakamon}}'', "Rashisa" ("らしさ"), stops after the very first line and then continues on.