By Peter Pavarini
As a youngster in the 1960s I enjoyed folk-rock more than any other genre of popular music. I learned to play guitar mimicking the styles of folk artists like Bob Dylan, the Byrds and others who had “gone electric”. But none of those musicians influenced me more than Simon & Garfunkel. Their cross-over hit “The Sound of Silence”[i] was written by Paul and released on their acoustic album “Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.” to which they later added electric guitar, bass and drums. The electrified version propelled the duo to pop stardom and set a high standard for the most lyrical music of my generation.
Daring to Disturb the Silence
It has taken me nearly 60 years to understand what that song really was about. Here’s one particularly poignant verse:
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
Back then, it was easy for me (and perhaps others) to assume Paul Simon had intentionally used the noun form of the word “silence”. That is, a state of quiet or stillness. But he may have meant the verb “to silence” – an imposed state of silence through gagging, muzzling, stifling or censoring someone.
Hearing One’s Inner Voice
Certainly, it’s more poetical to sing about the kind of silence which relieves stress and makes someone self-aware. Few can argue with creating a blank space in one’s life to make it easier to hear your “inner voice”.
That’s a concept that certainly resonates with people of faith. Almost every major religion places great importance on taking time away from the daily routine to focus on one’s spiritual condition. Centuries ago, an unnamed psalmist wrote these words:
Be still, and know that I am God.
Psalm 46:10
That Biblical adage encourages connection with God through quiet listening to what he has to say. Some with deep faith have taken this so seriously they choose to lead a monastic life where enforced silence allows them to focus on prayer and introspection.
The Fear of Loneliness
But even in interpersonal relationships, silence provides an environment where others can feel safe and reveal what’s really on their minds. In his 1923 classic The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran said:
There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone.
In today’s culture, the ease of substituting online presence for in-person relationships has led to an alarming rise in loneliness, according to many studies.[ii] Even with the technical ability to chat 24/7 with people anywhere in the world, humans remain a highly social species and need physical proximity with others to thrive.
An abundance of words should not, however, be equated with healthy social interaction. Not too long ago, calling someone a man or woman “of few words” was actually considered a compliment.[iii]
Saying Nothing at All
The writers of country music have always been good at conveying universal truth in a story song or a lyrical hook like this:
You say it best when you say nothing at all.
When songwriters Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz came up with that line, it is said that they had been laboring all day with little to show for their effort. The song “When You Say Nothing at All” suddenly emerged at the end of their writing session and produced a #1 hit for Keith Whitley and later a #3 hit for Alison Kraus. It’s the kind of song I wish I could have written.
In the language of music, a period of silence is known as “a rest”. The more one knows about music theory, the more one appreciates how the absence of notes is often more musical than a multitude of notes. In the 1984 film “Amadeus” depicting the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the character of Emperor Joseph II (who considered himself a great musical talent but really wasn’t) criticized a new composition by Mozart declaring it had “too many notes.” Mozart replied adroitly, “There are just as many notes as there should be.”
And therein lies the genius of someone, not only like Mozart, but anyone who dares contributes their creative work to the canon of civilization.
Saying What Needs to be Said
What makes the human race unique among all living forms is our ability to communicate information and meaning through the abstraction of language. Although imperfect, language in its many forms has given human beings an unparalleled advantage in navigating the vagaries of this world though shared understanding and joint activity.
No matter what limits a society imposes upon freedom of expression, there will always be a tension between what is said and what is left unsaid. Voluntary self-restraints on what someone communicates should be safeguarded as any other form of speech. On the other hand, involuntary restraints, such as silencing someone through censorship, intimidation, or cancellation must be subjected to the highest level of scrutiny and in almost all instances rejected.
To do otherwise would make us the people Paul Simon described in his song – ones who would never dare disturb the sound of silence. Gagged and stifled by popular opinion, unable to communicate what we know to be true, we will have traded our humanity for the false security of going along with the lie.
[i] “Sounds of Silence” was the name of Simon & Garfunkel’s second studio album released in 1966, which included the 1965 hit single.
[ii] M. Johnson, “Why Loneliness Is on the Rise”, Psychology Today, December 3, 2021. Although the COVID pandemic has been blamed for this trend, loneliness especially among younger people has been on the rise since 2015.
[iii] The opposite is also true. The famous line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet spoken by Queen Gertrude is “the lady doth protest too much, methinks” was said in response to the overacting of another character in the play.
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