Listening to Pink Floyd’s Delicate Sound of Thunder, I found myself perplexed at some of the lyrics to “On the Turning Away.” Singer/guitarist David Gilmour states:
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
I couldn’t help but wonder: “How would they know? How would the ‘speechless’ know to ‘unite in a silent accord’?” I mean, they’re speechless, and I have to take Gilmour’s “speechless” statement literally meaning that they are mute, at least – if not deaf. Therefore, they would probably have to sign to each other to unite in that silent accord. But that’s not very poetic, is it?
The vision I have in my head is a gathering of silent people who just came together. My vision of this doesn’t include sign language; I’m sure yours doesn’t either. It’s much more dramatic if they just come together.
The only thing that really made sense to me was ESP. They must have all known to unite in a silent accord by sending mind-messages to each other.
I tried sending my wife the message, “Let’s unite in a silent accord.” She didn’t respond.
Or maybe it’s . . .
Where the speechless unite
In a silent Accord
A few “speechless” people carpool in a very, very quiet Honda Accord. That makes a little more sense.
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