4'33"

FYI: 4'33" is a real song writen by composer John Cage, who experimented with expanding the boundries of what is considered to be music. It is four minutes and 33 seconds of silence. No notes are played. It was first performed on August 29, 1952, at Woodstock, New York as part of a recital of contemporary piano music. Several artists have payed tribute to this song, including John Lennon and Frank Zappa.

4’33”

4’33”, the epic piece,
no fingers ever grace the keys.
So silent is the performance
that for a short period of time
the audience realizes the
chaos of the world around them
and the beauty of its absence.

And they have time to contemplate.

Probing fingers tear into their souls
exposing an emptiness which
only silence can reveal.
They have never before realized
how many questions science is
unable to answer. Suddenly
a seed of fear is planted in their minds.

A man begins to cough in the
middle of the piece. Several
people jump, and look around,
alarmed. Then they promptly
lean back against the seats and
fall into an endless black hole:
the black hole of thought.

Bullets cover the sky as thick as grass on a lawn.
The soldiers are lying on the ground,
helpless against the constant barrage.
They are behind a short brick wall,
holding out until they die.
Suddenly they are hit from behind;
a machine gun rips apart their bodies.

Their minds begin to race.
Every question which has ever
gone unanswered. Every thought
that has ever been repressed.
This is the end.
They die thinking, but never knowing.


The pianist puts down the piano lid,
and the audience's minds
are pulled out of the black hole.
They look around frantically at other people,
fearing that the emptiness they
now felt inside of them was visible
to the entire audience.

Their minds try to grasp the fleeting
thoughts that survived the black hole’s pull,
but before they can get a firm
grip on them, they disappear as
the silence disappeared when the
pianist put down the piano lid.

Before they can fill the emptiness
the magnificent piece is over.
Chaos is restored;
Peace and silence fall on deaf ears.
People exit the auditorium,
returning to the same world
they had left four and a half minutes ago.

And nothing has changed.

The people have experienced
tranquility for the first time,
along with methodical reflection.
Yet they do not change their ways.
The poor are still poor.
The rich are still rich.
New wars replace old wars.
The aimless have not found purpose.
The ignorant are still ignorant.

And, it seems, humans will always be human.