Dumb Drums
“Whatever
is too stupid to say can be sung. The human voice can sing a vowel to break
your heart. It trills a string of banal words, but your blood jumps,
regardless. You don’t care about the words but only how they’re sung and the
music behind-the brass, the drums.
“Oh, the primal, necessary drums behind the
words are so dumb! That power, the bang and the boom and again the bang we cannot,
need not, live without, nor without other means to make sweet noise, the guitar
or violin, the things that sing the plaintive, joyful sounds.
“Which is why I
like songs best when I can’t hear the words, or, better still, when there are
no words at all.”
—Joseph
Addison (1672-1719), English
essayist, poet, playwright, and politician.
PeezPix by Ted Pease
Gerry & Carly
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“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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