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Pink Floyd — Keep Talking
Album: Division Bell
Avg rating:
7.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1403









Released: 0
Length: 5:50
Plays (last 30 days): 1
There's a silence surrounding me
I can't seem to think straight
I'll sit in the corner
No one can bother me
I think I should speak now (Why won't you talk to me)
I can't seem to speak now (You never talk to me)
My words won't come out right (What are you thinking)
I feel like I'm drowning (What are you feeling)
I'm feeling weak now (Why won't you talk to me)
But I can't show my weakness (You never talk to me)
I sometimes wonder (What are you thinking)
Where do we go from here (What are you feeling)

It doesn't have to be like this
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking

(Why won't you talk to me) I feel like I'm drowning
(You never talk to me) You know I can't breathe now
(What are you thinking) We're going nowhere
(What are you feeling) We're going nowhere
(Why won't you talk to me)
(You never talk to me)
(What are you thinking)
(Where do we go from here)

It doesn't have to be like this
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking
Comments (147)add comment
 westslope wrote:

I like Roger Waters' heart, his deep caring but not always his political pitch or how close he comes to 'us vs. them' politics and the politics of demonization.

I feel much more comfortable with David Gilmour's approach.   Gilmour's approach fits much better with the approach I like:  Neo-Viking Constructive Engagement.    That clearly involves a lot of talking.


David Gilmore was the heart and soul of Pink Floyd. Roger Waters was the angst and the anger.
Fantastic tune, also i can see Ely Cathedral on the album cover out of my kitchen window
 calypsus_1 wrote:


Written by David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Polly Samson, it was sung by Gilmour and also features samples of Stephen Hawking's electronic voice, taken from a BT television advertisement. The song also makes some use of the talk box guitar effect.

 "It's more of a wish (that all problems can be solved through discussion, as 'Keep Talking' suggests) than a belief." (laughs)

—David Gilmour, 1994

 





Interesting quote from Gilmour - I encourage all of us to upgrade from it being a "wish" to "belief" that it IS possible (if we ever intend to decrease war and conflict and increase unity, peace, and compassion). It starts with our belief & consciousness. 
 jberko wrote:

Gilmour is a tasteful guitarist.  Not one of the most technically proficient, but he does well with simple and well thought riffs.



Can you elaborate on exactly how he is not technically proficient?  I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you, I would just like to know how you came to this statement.
The Overton Window comes to mind. Tribalism fuelled by global corps leaves us with a pin prick of light - the Window is almost sealed shut. 
 calypsus_1 wrote:


Written by David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Polly Samson, it was sung by Gilmour and also features samples of Stephen Hawking's electronic voice, taken from a BT television advertisement. The song also makes some use of the talk box guitar effect.

 "It's more of a wish (that all problems can be solved through discussion, as 'Keep Talking' suggests) than a belief." (laughs)

—David Gilmour, 1994

 





... and also sung by Durga McBroom, Carol Kenyon, Jacky Sheridan, Rebecca Leigh-White. To by precise
This would be perfect for The Pink Floyd Experience. It could run non-stop in Vegas on a shared bill with Cirque du Soleil. 
I like Roger Waters' heart, his deep caring but not always his political pitch or how close he comes to 'us vs. them' politics and the politics of demonization.

I feel much more comfortable with David Gilmour's approach.   Gilmour's approach fits much better with the approach I like:  Neo-Viking Constructive Engagement.    That clearly involves a lot of talking.
Out of all the comments on all the RP songs, I've never seen so many comments with no thumb's ups or downs.  I sense very little strong feelings going on for a decent, but not brilliant song. 
 spiggy wrote:

Bombastic overblown guitars... ho hum 



Then concentrate on the lyrics if you can read. Obviously your ears are out of order.


Written by David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Polly Samson, it was sung by Gilmour and also features samples of Stephen Hawking's electronic voice, taken from a BT television advertisement. The song also makes some use of the talk box guitar effect.

 "It's more of a wish (that all problems can be solved through discussion, as 'Keep Talking' suggests) than a belief." (laughs)

—David Gilmour, 1994

 



Bombastic overblown guitars... ho hum 
 westslope wrote:

Yes!  Just caught it.  Should I presume that Pink Floyd Inc. got formal permission from Mr. Hawking before hand?

 

For sure. I'd guess that he'd have been happy to record for them, and they'd be star-struck by him. It's not every day you get to work with a bona fide international genius.

Yer man Hawking is in a YouTube video talking about his appearances in The Simpsons, and how much he enjoyed them.
being cruel to elderly people, stingray? how nasty!
even elderly people in elevators feel pain!
and this "elderly" pink floyd IS a major pain. music to puke to ...
Sweet synthie-soup for elevators in elderly homes!
 coloradojohn wrote:
(Pink Floyd)... sowed countless fertile seeds of musical brilliance that will surely go on expanding outward like the Space and Time matrix itself...

 
Nicely put. What a great image, and so true!
Love Gilmour's signature licks : /) )
Not if it's the unforgettable fire, then it cancels out. 

Stingray wrote:
To play Floyd in the same set as U2 is an unforgettable sin!
 


For Pink Floyd...this sounds like filler to me.
Can't speak now. Try a voice box but it won't stop you from speaking bollocks!
..that's a Stephen Hawking clip in there, no?..anything that samples him is genius-by-association..
Fine  fine  i like it    yes !!!!!!!!
To play Floyd in the same set as U2 is an unforgettable sin!
Pink Floyd has much better songs than this one in this album "like Marooned"
Much like The Beatles, I believe that this band, in all its various stages and incarnations, and with all its individual members' tangential efforts, has sowed countless fertile seeds of musical brilliance that will surely go on expanding outward like the Space and Time matrix itself...and, WHAT A FREAKIN' WILD FLOYDIAN PARTY IT IS, and WITH SUCH A GREAT SOUNDTRACK!  Shine on, keep talking, and keep rocking!

One of my least favorite PF songs after "Time" and "Money."

That being said, it's still a 7.
I like this album.
Gilmour is a tasteful guitarist.  Not one of the most technically proficient, but he does well with simple and well thought riffs.
This song feels like they ran out of sound, so they borrowed someone else's. Someone from an 80's heavy metal band.
These songs always bring out the Gilmour haters, but if they would put down the their rocks and listen for a moment, this is a great song, great album, great man.  Floyd was not going to keep releasing DSOTM part 2, 3, 4 etc.

Another great song on this album is "Lost for Words", which is clearly about all the fighting between Gilmour and Waters.  It actually has a direct quote from Waters in it:
So I open my door to my enemies
And I ask could we wipe the slate clean
But they tell me to "please go fuck myself"
You know you just can't win.....

This was when Gilmour was working on the Shine On box set and called waters to see if he would be interested in working on it with him.  Waters to him to go fuck himself.  Classy guy that Waters.

But now Waters openly admits publicly what an arrogant difficult person he was to deal with back then, and it is great to see that he is friends with Gilmour once again.
 KOLFanSince2002 wrote:

Tangerine Dream!!!!!!! :))))))) Love them!!!!!! Listen to Pergamon at least once or twice a month in full...and Ricochet...and...;)
 
Whaaat?

Nothing worse than KRAUT-Synthie!


1 for music and cover!

RIDICULOUS!
uh-uh-uh... the third 1-pointer-in-a-row :-(
what have i done to be tortured this way.
this "late" pink floyd are so embarrassing. grrrrrrrrr.....
 KOLFanSince2002 wrote:

Tangerine Dream!!!!!!! :))))))) Love them!!!!!! Listen to Pergamon at least once or twice a month in full...and Ricochet...and...;)
 

You should check out "Poland"—amazing double-CD album of a 1981 live concert in Poland. "Tyranny of Beauty" and "Dream Remixes" are good CDs with a more modern sound for the band. 
 fast_eddie wrote:
God this is such pop music...  Not sure this should be called Pink Floyd....
 
And would you say the same about "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play"  {#Stupid}

 ziggytrix wrote:
Meh, they were both out of fresh ideas by this point.  The Wall was their last good album (and frankly, as whole, I find it a bit overrated).  I mean have you ever listened to The Final Cut?  It's really, really awful. At least I can listen to a couple of songs from Momentary Lapse of Reason or Division Bell without repressing an urge to inducing vomiting.
 
No denying the aptly titled "Final Cut" was pretty bad. A Roger Waters solo album by any other name. I did like the first 2 Gilmour solo albums but other than that, the post "Wall" pickin's are pretty slim.

This would have sounded a lot like Pink Floyd if it had had Roger Waters involved in it.
 KOLFanSince2002 wrote:

The Final Cut...AWFUL!!!!?? As a longtime Floyd fan (probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite band ever) I have to sternly disagree with you. Is it essentially a Waters solo effort? OK, almost, sure but...it is simply brilliant in my mind. Minimalist at times and then suddenly intense and epic. One of my Top 10 CD's of all time actually...the brief but passionate solo on the title track alone makes it worth it for me...LOVE the album!!
 
One of my best friends and I always loved Floyd, but we were always split on The Final Cut.  I absolutely hated the music and could not get past it enough to listen, he loved it and its message.  Musically at least, it is much different than most of their other stuff...

Stephen Hawking's voice over is so much better than Shatner!
God this is such pop music...  Not sure this should be called Pink Floyd....
 kittyharker wrote:
The ending reminds me a lot of Tangerine Dream...which is definitely a compliment!
 
Tangerine Dream!!!!!!! :))))))) Love them!!!!!! Listen to Pergamon at least once or twice a month in full...and Ricochet...and...;)
 ziggytrix wrote:


Meh, they were both out of fresh ideas by this point.  The Wall was their last good album (and frankly, as whole, I find it a bit overrated).  I mean have you ever listened to The Final Cut?  It's really, really awful. At least I can listen to a couple of songs from Momentary Lapse of Reason or Division Bell without repressing an urge to inducing vomiting.
 
The Final Cut...AWFUL!!!!?? As a longtime Floyd fan (probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite band ever) I have to sternly disagree with you. Is it essentially a Waters solo effort? OK, almost, sure but...it is simply brilliant in my mind. Minimalist at times and then suddenly intense and epic. One of my Top 10 CD's of all time actually...the brief but passionate solo on the title track alone makes it worth it for me...LOVE the album!!
 ziggytrix wrote:


Meh, they were both out of fresh ideas by this point.  The Wall was their last good album (and frankly, as whole, I find it a bit overrated).  I mean have you ever listened to The Final Cut?  It's really, really awful. At least I can listen to a couple of songs from Momentary Lapse of Reason or Division Bell without repressing an urge to inducing vomiting.

 
Cant agree with you there about the Final Cut. Its one of my favorites...

 On_The_Beach wrote:

McCartney needed Lennon.
Gilmour needed Waters.

 

Meh, they were both out of fresh ideas by this point.  The Wall was their last good album (and frankly, as whole, I find it a bit overrated).  I mean have you ever listened to The Final Cut?  It's really, really awful. At least I can listen to a couple of songs from Momentary Lapse of Reason or Division Bell without repressing an urge to inducing vomiting.

The best track by far on a middling album. Thankfully they toured to support it so it was the only time I ever got to see them.... minus Roger of course :(
 Shimmer wrote:
Fake Floyd.
 

In the words of the immortal Archie Bunker: THHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHGGHHHH!!!!
...that was my best typewritten raspberry, sry...

Ok, I'm a pure Floyd fan, but I still REALLY like this one!!!


The ending reminds me a lot of Tangerine Dream...which is definitely a compliment!
Man when I heard that the monologue by Hawking in the beginning of this song was taken from a phone ad I was sadly surprised.
Found this one ..all scratched up..will trade some stuff for the CD.
A 10 all in all !{#Yes}
 Pyro wrote:
"It doesn't have to be like this.  All we need to do is make sure we keep talking."  I wonder if this was pointed at Waters (and the split)?
 
Given Hawkings' perspective, my guess is that he wants us to avoid annihilation.

8=>9

 

Now I'm interested in the rest of the CD.  Comments?

Hey!  Did I just catch a nod to some of their earlier work?


 ncollingridge wrote:
Pompous and soulless. Sorry - flame away all you like, but that's the truth. I am a great fan of earlier PF for their delicacy and grace, but they lost all of that once they became mega-successful,
 
...and perfunctory. 

Fake Floyd.
 fredriley wrote:
Love the Stephen Hawking cameo. Nearly as good, though not as funny, as his cameos on The Simpsons :)
 

Yes!  Just caught it.  Should I presume that Pink Floyd Inc. got formal permission from Mr. Hawking before hand?

 

Don't you love the babbling guitars?



 Pyro wrote:
"It doesn't have to be like this.  All we need to do is make sure we keep talking."  I wonder if this was pointed at Waters (and the split)?
 



doubt it...prob some chick
Yes, an absolute 10...love the concept, love Pink Floyd, love the whole journey, love the CD.
 lophrequa wrote:

as do i. makes me want to watch Brief History of Time

 
iirc the working title to this album was A Brief History Of Time, and they changed it later.


"It doesn't have to be like this.  All we need to do is make sure we keep talking."  I wonder if this was pointed at Waters (and the split)?
Not too bad actually for post-Waters Pink Floyd.
Genius, and I love the raw passion in Hawking's voice.
   Where the rubber hits the road, I'd rather be listening to P.F. than 99% of what's out there.

While it is impossible to calculate P.F.'s influence on music and musicians it's ubiquitous.
 
From S. Hawkins to Russian Cosmonauts P.F. have impressed a lot of people and
many to come.


Pompous and soulless. Sorry - flame away all you like, but that's the truth. I am a great fan of earlier PF for their delicacy and grace, but they lost all of that once they became mega-successful,
Love the Stephen Hawking cameo. Nearly as good, though not as funny, as his cameos on The Simpsons :)
It's hard to find 'bad' Floyd. Sure, there are songs that sound similar, but like this one, the sound is SO F——- good! You get lost in the richness of each chord, finding yourself picking out each individual instrument used as if it's an orchestra. You hardly EVER get short changed with a PF cut....
 burdell wrote:
So what if it is not as good as the 70s Pink Floyd. It is better than 99% of the other crap that gets produced.

Enjoy it for what it is. It puts me in a great mood, a great place. And that is what music is for.
 

Amen....
 Tizmself wrote:



 


 Tizmself wrote:



 
And why dont you try some of it?

 romeotuma wrote:


This song is good for the ears...
 


Superb, reminiscent of King Crimson, about as big a wrap as I could give, sublime bass and guit...................
 spaceman wrote:
Meh. I really am a Pink Floyd fan, but this album did nothing for me. I mean, what's so special about this song, for example? The lyrics are fine, but there's nothing in the music that hasn't been done before (and by the Floyd themselves). This is like eating tofu when you expected a steak. Nothing against soy, but it's not the real thing. I can't rate this song higher than "acceptable".
 
McCartney needed Lennon.
Gilmour needed Waters.

 EncinitasMapGirl wrote:
I think this was an INCREDIBLY underrated album!
 

Hell yeah, it re-captured and re-visited elements from their best work at various stages (for example, this track has a definite Animals feel), but in an artistic and original way, not just a cut-and-paste formula job.  I was disappointed by Momentary Lapse, but Division Bell ranks right up there in the top half-dozen Floyd albums.  Lyrically and musically, this album was the perfect swan-song.

 
 beelzebubba wrote:
David Gilmore should be shot for what he did to Floyd.
 
You should see what he did to Larry! ..... {#Curtain}
Meh. I really am a Pink Floyd fan, but this album did nothing for me. I mean, what's so special about this song, for example? The lyrics are fine, but there's nothing in the music that hasn't been done before (and by the Floyd themselves). This is like eating tofu when you expected a steak. Nothing against soy, but it's not the real thing. I can't rate this song higher than "acceptable".


 indigosun wrote:
add this song to the gray, cold, drizzly day and it's the perfect recipe for depression.
 
Yeah, isn't it great?!!

 SantaFeGrace wrote:
"It doesn't have to be like this.  All we have to do is make sure we keep talking."

It may seem strange to some, but I love hearing Steven Hawking's voice.
 
as do i. makes me want to watch Brief History of Time

 jagdriver wrote:


Roger Waters is the one who.... oh, never mind!
 
haha

My favourite song of PF.

Lyrics is brilliant.
Totally a "goose bump" song - awesome Floyd .
garthwb wrote:
Only judging by how much I return to a certain album, this one is by far the weakest one, for me anyway... Never listen to it, and I did really try. I know some of my friends rate it highly though, but the debate still rages! I don't think any of their albums are dreadful, but some are less enjoyable.


I'm with you. I remember talking about how cool it would be to get this album with my friends the night before it came out. We elected one guy to go and buy copies when the store opened. He brought back the disks and distributed them solemnly and we all retreated to our dorm rooms to listen ... and it failed completely to reach our expectations. I mean the opening monologue to this song is from a phone ad for chrissake. Like you I can't say I hate it, and stuff like Marooned reflect some of PF's best work, but overall it was a deflating experience.

The problem with this album, and anything from Gilmore since About Face, isnt that it doesnt sound good, or that it's technically weak...it's that its seems to be produced from the "Floyd" formula book.  Final Cut (cuts and pieces from the Wall) and Pros and Cons weren't masterpieces, but they still had tons of raw energy and were creative.  I just dont hear anything new here, although it admittedly sounds nice...but who wants nice Floyd?
 jagdriver wrote:
beelzebubba wrote:
David Gilmore should be shot for what he did to Floyd.


David Gilmour **IS** The Floyd!
 

Roger Waters is the one who.... oh, never mind!
"It doesn't have to be like this.  All we have to do is make sure we keep talking."

It may seem strange to some, but I love hearing Steven Hawking's voice.
add this song to the gray, cold, drizzly day and it's the perfect recipe for depression.

For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals, then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination:  we held aloft our magic sword and said,

"By the power of Grayskull!"



Blistering lead!
This CD is what turned me on to Pink Floyd. Absolutely love this album!
I agree....The best
I love Gilmour's music so much.  Awesome song.

Only judging by how much I return to a certain album, this one is by far the weakest one, for me anyway... Never listen to it, and I did really try. I know some of my friends rate it highly though, but the debate still rages! I don't think any of their albums are dreadful, but some are less enjoyable.
bizon wrote:
Nowhere near any of their best work, but good nonetheless. It's Pink Floyd and it's far better than anything Waters has done since leaving the band!
all good words.
Nowhere near any of their best work, but good nonetheless. It's Pink Floyd and it's far better than anything Waters has done since leaving the band!
EncinitasMapGirl wrote:
I think this was an INCREDIBLY underrated album!
Take it Back is another gem from Division Bell, and Poles Apart.
So what if it is not as good as the 70s Pink Floyd. It is better than 99% of the other crap that gets produced. Enjoy it for what it is. It puts me in a great mood, a great place. And that is what music is for.
It's "Gilmour", not "Gilmore"
Love this! Haven't heard it before, unusually.
so" Animals" like. a good thing
I'm a total Floyd junkie, but this just gives me toughts of Robbie Robertson - in the sense of vocals, and mood. The sounds though, are totally Floyd. So, I'm mixed on my feelings.
psycholynx wrote:
Hmm, I think the WORST album was "The Final Cut" It just sucked. It just did, dude
seriously, it was like all the self-pitying, dull, and gimmicky parts from The Wall stretched out to fill an album. i like to pretend everything Floyd after The Wall doesn't exist. :(
MadPercolator wrote:
Any takers on a non-poo dino-rocker album from the early 90's? Bring it.
...would you consider early genesis to be dino-rocker material?..us was released around the same time as the division bell - and, of course, amused to death, but playing the roger waters card to such a question is probably cheating...
Shesdifferent wrote:
Brilliantly fantastic!! Keep on playing more from this album.
It's one of the best tunes on the album (in my view), but you are right! The whole album has nice surprises! Listen to this guitar...
I think this was an INCREDIBLY underrated album!
Brilliantly fantastic!! Keep on playing more from this album.
to quote an old Girl freind of mine when this album came out: "Gee, these guys look old' That was how LONG AGO!!??
We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass Or rats' feet over broken glass In our dry cellar
jagdriver wrote:
David Gilmore **IS** The Floyd!
I'd have to say that Gilmour makes Floyd for me as well.
Why is there so much beef about The Division Bell, hm? Did any of the other dino-rockers who released albums in the early-90's release an album as good as division bell? the Allman Bros album from the early 90's? Poo. The Who Albums? McCartney? The Page/Plant soft rock mayhem of unplugged? Poo. Anything by the Stones since 1984? Poo. Any takers on a non-poo dino-rocker album from the early 90's? Bring it. This is not poo. Take it back was a great track, and "Keep Talking" is my favorite on the album.
evishounet wrote:
The Floyd is dead.
LONG LIVE THE FLOYD!!!!!
I can go way back near the begginning with Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn - but my favorite recent one is Momentary Lapse of Reason. As good as Floyd gets and has ever been. So I was at my favorite record store at midnight for the release of Division Bell. Sadly disappointed. Keep Talking was a good track on the album, but nowhere near there past achievements.
segueman wrote:
I'm sorry but The Division Bell is just a sad recycling of Pink Floyd sounds. Talkbox guitar ala Animals, keyboards from Wish You Were Here...and I wonder what wall Gilmour is referring to? At least Learning to Fly sounded like a Gilmour Floyd song without sounding like it was ripping off previous work. The Division Bell does suck. I wish Roger and Dave would make up and make the incredible music they're capable of making together.
I agree !!! But I think that it can't happen... The Floyd is dead.
can't stand the floyd. boring.
Tarindel wrote:
The Division Bell is a stellar album. I was completely surprised at how good it was.
agree
beelzebubba wrote:
David Gilmore should be shot for what he did to Floyd.


David Gilmour **IS** The Floyd!

I'm sorry but The Division Bell is just a sad recycling of Pink Floyd sounds. Talkbox guitar ala Animals, keyboards from Wish You Were Here...and I wonder what wall Gilmour is referring to? At least Learning to Fly sounded like a Gilmour Floyd song without sounding like it was ripping off previous work. The Division Bell does suck. I wish Roger and Dave would make up and make the incredible music they're capable of making together.
Trustocity wrote:
"Division Bell" sucked! It just did, dude. It just sucked.
Hmm, I think the WORST album was "The Final Cut" It just sucked. It just did, dude
shayde wrote:
"It's not like the old Floyd!" "This is crap!" "Wah, roger was a god".... cmon people, yes, this is from the Division Bell, which was released in 1994, truly a dark time for modern music, and even surround by such evil, they cranked out a damned good album. No, this is not Wish You were Here, or Animals, but this is also 20 years later - it has a lot of the Floyd feel to it, with a wonderful choral counterpoint going on there. Think modern folks - music changes, the bands change, they do new stuff. I happen to like this track.
So comparisons aren't valid? Take any PF great from earlier -- I'll even stack the deck against myself by picking a "Wall" song, "Comfortably Numb," which also features Gilmore vocals and guitars. "Numb" had key changes. It was subtle and heart-wrenching (message is, "Mom was mean") where "Keep Talking" is pedantically overt and a little sappy (message is, "Like one another"). "Numb's" guitar solo is better by about three degrees. "Numb" has better gimmicks (a scream v. a computer voice dude). And lastly, "Numb" was produced before Waters started adding a Motown female chorus to every song he made, which Gilmore ripped off simply to sound more like Waters, which wasn't such a great thing. "Keep Talking" is the result of a degredation in PF songwriting quality from bombastic space rock to commercial dreck. I think part of the reason I'm so hard on "Division Bell" is because my very PF album was "Momentary Lapse," and I friggin' loved it. Wanted mor PF, progressed backward to "Wall," then "Dark Side," then "Wish You Were Here." I was hooked. "Division Bell" came out, and it simply did not live up to what came before, even "Momentary Lapse." So, is that articulate enough to justify saying "Division Bell" sucked, no matter what artist, genre or past PF incarnation you compare it to? "Division Bell" sucked! It just did, dude. It just sucked.
The Division Bell is a stellar album. I was completely surprised at how good it was.
Love Pink Floyd. Love Gilmore. Hate this song.
Love this song! Hawkings adds a neat dimension to it.