David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Polly Samson/6:11
Musicians
David Gilmour: vocals, acoustic guitar (loop), electric rhythm and lead guitar, programming (?)
Rick Wright: keyboards
Nick Mason: drums
Bob Ezrin: keyboards(?), programming(?)
Jon Carin: keyboards(?), programming(?)
Guy Pratt: bass
Tim Renwick: electric rhythm guitar (?)
Gary Wallis: percussion
Sam Brown, Durga McBroom, Carol Kenyon, Jackie Sheridan, Rebecca Leigh-White: backing vocals
Stephen Hawking: voice
Recorded
Britannia Row Studios, Islington, London: January 1993
Astoria, Hampton: February–May, September–December 1993
Metropolis Studios, Chiswick, London: September–December 1993
The Creek Recording Studios, London: September–December 1993
Technical Team
Producers: David Gilmour, Bob Ezrin
Sound Engineers: Andy Jackson, Keith Grant (The Creek), Chris Thomas (mixing)
Assistant Sound Engineer: Jules Bowen (Astoria)
During an interview with Redbeard on the show In the Studio in March 1994, David Gilmour revealed that his inspiration for “Keep Talking” was a British Telecom ad. “This was the most powerful piece of television advertising that I’ve ever seen in my life. I thought it was fascinating, and I contacted the company that made it and asked if I could borrow the voice track from it, this voice-over track from it, which I did, which is this voice synthesizer thing, and I applied it to one of the pieces of music we already had.”153
<c=PANTONE Process Black C>For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk. And (the following passage is played twice): It doesn’t have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking. These words that so moved David Gilmour are spoken by Stephen Hawking, the famous British physicist and cosmologist with motor-neurone disease. As its title has already made clear, this song is about the need for human beings to communicate, a need that is almost as important as breathing. “I have moments of huge frustration because of my inability to express myself linguistically as clearly as I would like to. A lot of people think that I express myself most clearly through the guitar playing.”36 Viewed from this angle, “Keep Talking” rings out as a kind of appeal for the liberation of the spoken word for the sake of global harmony. There’s a silence surrounding me, I can’t seem to think straight, sings David Gilmour after Stephen Hawking’s opening phrases. And in the last verse: What are you thinking?/We’re going nowhere/What are you feeling?/We’re going nowhere.
“Keep Talking” was chosen as the second single from The Division Bell (accompanied by “High Hopes”). Released on October 10, 1994, it reached number 26 on the British charts on October 29, 1994. The song is also on a three-track single with “High Hopes” and a live version of “One of These Days.”
The intro is constructed around the same loop of acoustic guitar played with the EBow, Zoom-enhanced and played backward, that can be heard on “Take It Back.” In this case it is accompanied by numerous synthesizer effects. The beat is provided by programmed hi-hat, and resonant guitar chords with very present delay then join in. This somewhat cosmic-sounding mood is complemented by a lead guitar line from David Gilmour. Programmed drums then reinforce the beat, supported in turn by two rhythm guitars and a bass. Stephen Hawking’s synthesized voice can be heard from 1:15: For millions of years… This is followed by the first verse, which is sung by Gilmour in an almost confiding voice. Nick Mason is playing his Drum Workshop kit and, along with the various programmed rhythm elements, lays down an excellent groove. Gilmour continues his lead vocal accompanied by backing vocals in a sort of question-and-answer dialogue, to some degree resembling Rick Wright’s “Wearing the Inside Out.” The physicist’s voice is heard again at 2:38 with It doesn’t have to be like this… and then Gilmour seems to answer him with a furious solo on his “Red Strat” with Big Muff distortion. Gilmour’s phrasing is hard-edged rock, and he is accompanied by the superb rhythm section of Nick Mason, Guy Pratt, and—with various programmed and “live” percussion instruments—Gary Wallis. Not to forget Rick Wright’s Hammond organ, which now puts in an appearance. Wright also takes over from Gilmour’s solo on a keyboard whose sound recalls the Minimoog, the phrasing bringing to mind some of the big moments of Wish You Were Here. Gilmour then resumes his dialogue with the backing vocalists, and while they sing the last four lines of the song, he plays another solo, this time using his Heil Sound Talk Box for the first time since Animals. Whereas on tracks like “Pigs (Three Different Ones),” he used it to create particular sonic effects, this time he plays a full-blown and highly successful solo, somewhat in the style popularized by Peter Frampton in the early seventies. Against the background of this Talk Box solo, Hawking’s voice can be heard repeating the statement It doesn’t have to be like this, (at 4:54), followed a few seconds later by All we need to do is make sure we keep talking. The track ends with a fade-out in an atmosphere dominated by the rhythm guitars, the various sequencer programming and rhythmic elements, and synth pads.
“Keep Talking” is an ambitious track that succeeds thanks to Stephen Hawking’s extraordinary message and Pink Floyd’s excellent execution.