The great Digital silence (1)

Verse 1

I saw a couple at a table in a candlelit café

Sat for twenty minutes, not a single word to say

Fingers flew like sparrows on a tabletop of chrome

He LOL’d a cat meme, she posted pics from Rome

Sitting Silent side-by-side, a universe apart

Connected by wifi, wire straight to the heart

Chorus

It’s the great digital silence, washing over the land

Hundred thousand friends but we’re talking to our hands

We emoji our feelings with a yellow smiley face

Traded conversation for a digital embrace.

We’ve got so much to say but we can’t find where to start

It’s the great digital silence, slowly tearing us apart

Verse 2

I texted my old neighbor, “Hey — how’s it going, man?”

He replied with a thumbs-up, no words to understand

I used to call my mother just to hear about her week

Now it’s an airbrushed selfie and a sentence short and sweet.

We’ve traded proper grammar for abbreviated words

Now we are texting nonsense in an effort to be heard.

Chorus

It’s the great digital silence, washing over the land

Hundred thousand friends but we’re talking to our hands

We emoji our feelings with a yellow smiley face

Traded conversation for a screen’s cold, glowing grace

We’ve got so much to say but we can’t find where to start

It’s the great digital silence, slowly tearing us apart

Middle 8 (beat drops — vocoder/robotic)

Connection established.

Query: “How are you?”

Response: “Good.”

...End transmission.

Please hold for the next available human.

Your call is very important to us.

Menu options have changed.

Verse 3

I unplugged on Sunday, went for a walk in the park

Saw a thousand faces, but they vanished in the dark

Little glowing rectangles held up to block the sun

Documenting living while the living’s left undone

I wanted to say “hello,” to catch a real-life smile

But I’d forgotten how to hold that eye for more than a while

My tongue felt like a stranger, my voice was feeling sore

So I pulled out my device and scrolled a little morei

Final Chorus

It’s the great digital silence! (ooh-ooh-ooh)

Washing over the land! (ooh-ooh-ooh)

We’ve got a hundred thousand friends! — but we talk to our hands!

We emoji our feelings with a yellow smiley face

Traded conversation for a screen’s cold, glowing grace

We’ve got so much to say but we can’t find where to start

In this great digital silence, slowly tearing us apart

Yeah, we’ve forgotten how to start.

(Whisper)

So… how was your day?