Keep Talking by Pink Floyd

Album: The Division Bell (1994)

Charted: 26

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

Professor Stephen Hawking (author of A Brief History Of Time) lends his voice synthesizer to this track. It can be heard in "spoken" lines just before the opening verse, again before the guitar solo, and once more toward the end of the song. >>>
Suggestion credit:
Joshua - Twin Cities, MN

Comments: 10

Music Lover from Gig Harbor Washington UsaSir Stephen Hawking used a TalkBox for a long time, probably since the 1970s, when he lost use of his natural voice. This is an awesome example of how he used his talk box. I love this song "Keep Talking".
Joe from Brooklyn, NyYes Terry, I do agree that is an excellent use of the TalkBox.
Since Frampton, ok, Frampton really popularized it but what about
Gilmour's use of the TalkBox on Pigs (Three Different Ones)?
Fortunately I'm old enough to have seen & heard Gilmour use it on their 1977 tour.
Back to Keep Talking, I truely love this song and until reading the notes here,
I did not know that was Stephen Hawking's synth voice.
Now that I know, I appreciate this song all that much more.
Terry from Wickford, RiNo, I'm not talking about the Stephen Hawking voice synth. The actual effect on the guitar at the end of the song (more noticeable on the PULSE version) is called a TalkBox. Watch the video attached here and you hear it around 5:30 and see David using it in closeup at 6:16. It's a tube that goes in the mouth and intercepts the signal to the amp allowing the player to affect the guitar signal with his voice. Frampton was famous for using it on the "Frampton Comes Alive" album.
Stu from Philly, PaDude, that's not a talk-box... unless you were kidding. that's the synthesizer used by Stephen Hawkings.
Terry from Wickford, RiBest use of the Talk-Box guitar since Frampton!
Peter from Townsville, AustraliaStephen Hawking's comments were taken from a telecommunications advertisement (typical of PF's irony, methinks). This song was aired on radio in 1994 when I was at Uni and man I loved it then like I love it now. Brilliant stuff!
Alton from Huntington Beach, CaThe best song of the century!
Pete from Nowra, AustraliaStephen Hawking eh??? well there ya go , learn something new every day...is a great song though, same with take it back

the Floyd rules
Ashley from Moncton, CanadaThey have a super-genius on a genius song, it's genius, even though it isn't the greatest Floyd song. I know, I over use the word genius.
Ryan from Christchurch, New ZealandThe song is about the absence of communication between people, which is a theme running through the Division Bell album. Stephen Hawking's appearance only highlights this.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Freak On A LeashKorn

Korn's most popular song, "Freak On A Leash," is about their predatory record label making huge profits off the band. It was quite profitable, helping the Follow The Leader album sell over 5 million copies.

Shot In The DarkOzzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne's "Shot In The Dark" is titled after a Pink Panther movie.

The WeightThe Band

In The Band song "The Weight," Nazareth ("Went down to Nazareth") refers to a town in Pennsylvania where the Martin Guitar company was located.

VoodooGodsmack

The line, "I feel the snakebite enter my veins," led many to believe the Godsmack song "Voodoo" is about drugs, but it's really about Wiccan ritual, inspired in part by the Wes Craven movie The Serpent and the Rainbow.

Right RoundFlo Rida

An unknown Kesha (known then as Ke$ha) sang on Flo-Rida's #1 hit "Right Round," but refused to appear in the video because she wanted to make a name for herself.

SOSRihanna

A section of verse lyrics in Rihanna's "SOS" is made up of titles from '80s hits - check out the part that starts, "Take me on, I could just die up in your arms tonight."