Silence,
Silence speaks for you.
Silence speaks for you.
Diamonds,
Diamonds shine like you.
Diamonds shine like you.”
There’s something incredible about repetition of a phrase. We’ve even created incredible ways of mirroring this idea in writing without actually repeating a phrase. For instance, boldness or italics are sometimes included in a piece of writing to leave the same impression on the reader. As if to say, “this is important, pay attention.”
I write poetry for fun, something a lot of people don’t know about me. It’s a selfish art form, which I acknowledge, but I love it because of certain aspects — one of them being repetition. The way words are played with, how words sit on the page, etc. Last week I went to a poetry reading and memorial for a woman named Akilah Oliver. I was moved for several reasons that I won’t really get into, except for one instance. There was a video of her projected that displayed her reading poetry. The last poem she read had a memorable repetition of the lines:
How ya livin’?”
Not only was this repeated, but the emphasis on syllables and words changed with every repetition. With the added beauty of her voice, it was impossible not to have some sort of an emotional reaction.
Similarly, in this song, we see a repetition of phrases that alternate throughout, but are all the more important. In light of repetition, I found the notion of “silence speaks for you” to be fascinating. The repetition of silence, something that is not actively re-created and repeated but stubbornly apparent and ever present, speaking for a person has all to do with my shpeal on body language and universal understanding of one another from a couple weeks ago. Without words, and more so, the repetition of words, we are able to relay an entirely different idea and emotion.
That itself is something to cherish and ponder on for this Thursday.
Repetition and deep analysis aside, this song is lovely and pop-py in all the right ways. I dare you to play this track perhaps during a time of craved silence in your long and busy Thursday. Allow it to coarse through your veins, for it is a rather dark song, lyrically, but one that contrasts heavily in tune.