Sunday 27 August 2017

The Sound of Silence: Is that a bad thing?


Who hasn't heard this song? That's right, Simon and Garfunkel's classic, Sound of Silence.

If you are anything like me, you have probably listened to the song hundreds of times but never really listened to the lyrics. Lets look at some of the lyrics:

"People talking without speaking."

"People writing songs that voices never share."

"Silence like a cancer grows."

Art Garfunkel told us that the meaning of this song is "the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly internationally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other."

That is all very interesting but I do have some questions:

What does silence and cancer have to do with each other? Are Simon and Garfunkel equating silence and cancer? I really hope not. Why can't we sit by ourselves and enjoy solitude or does that hurt some people's sensibilities?


"People talking without speaking." 

I can imagine many introverts can relate to this because they, I am sure being in many conversations where someone, usually extroverted, has sat there and dominated the conversation and said absolutely nothing, from an introvert's perspective.


The point is today, is that there is nothing wrong with a bit of silence from time to time. It isn't a threat to an extrovert. Remember, that is how an introvert recharges and it isn't an affront to you. They are being silent because they have nothing to add to the conversation. They have nothing to say that they believe is interesting and that is ok.

Perhaps today, this song was probably more appropriate:




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