Every time there is a gap of silence on the radio or television, John Cage gets paid a royalty 4 dollars and 33 cents.

"I love sounds...just as they are" HONNNNK perfect

"I love sounds. Just as they are. And I have no need for them to be anything more than what they are." Warmed my heart.

" " - John Cage

Transcribed this for a class. Thought I should leave it here for reference. I made some editorial changes. “When I hear what we call music, it seems to be that someone is talking, and talking about his feelings, or talking about his ideas of relationships. But when I hear traffic, the sound of traffic, hear on 6th avenue for instance, I don’t have the feeling that anyone is talking. I have the feeling that sound is acting, and I love the activity of sound. What it does is it gets louder and quieter, and it gets higher and lower, and it gets longer and shorter. It does all of those things. I am completely satisfied with that. I don’t need sound to talk to me.” “We don’t see much difference between time and space. We don’t know where one begins and the other stops. So most of the arts we think of being in time, and most of the arts we think of being in space. Marcel Duchamp, for instance, began thinking of music not as a time-art but as a space-art, and he made a piece called sculpture-musical, which means different sounds coming from different places, producing a sculpture with is sonorous and which remains.” “People expect listening to be more than listening, and so sometimes they speak of inner-listening or the meaning of sound. When I talk about music, it finally comes to mind that I’m talking about sound that doesn’t mean anything, that is not inner, but just outer. These people, who understand that finally say: you mean it’s just sound? Thinking that for something to just be a sound is useless, whereas I love sounds just where they are, and I have no need for them to be anything more than what they are. I don’t want them to be psychologically. I don’t want a sound to pretend it’s a bucket, or that it’s a president, or that it’s in love with another sound. I just want it to be sound. And I’m no so stupid either. There’s a German philosopher, whose well-known, Immanuel Kant, and he said there’s two things that don’t have to mean anything. One is music, and the other is laughter. Don’t have to mean anything, that is, in order to give us very deep pleasure.” “The sound experience, which I prefer to all others, is the experience of silence. This silence, almost everywhere in the world now, is traffic. If you listen to Beethoven or Mozart, you see that they’re always the same. But if you listen to traffic, you see that it’s always different.”

this is why people sit and listen to rain.

mozart was ok bro, but you need to check out traffic

Black is an absence of colour but yet we still define it as a colour, so surely the absence of sound could also be considered a sound no?

I feel like John Cage would really appreciate electronic music today because it's all about the sounds. I remember in something I read by him once he said he appreciated electronic instruments that tried to make new sounds rather than ones that tried to replicate already existing instruments.

I hit pause but the music keeps playing is this a bug?

I long to have Cage's view of the world. He seems so happy and appreciative of everything.

Cage's approach is nice because something is fundamentally childlike about it. A child waking up in the morning loves to hear clatter coming from the kitchen; it's the music of home and has comforting familiarity. There's rhythm all over the place; feet on stairs, trains on tracks. Great authors have sounds and sense perceptions in their work all the time, including James Joyce. There's music in many sounds, including words. I like languages because each language has its own music.

I love listening to him talk. It's like he views the world as an entirely different realm than anyone else and he has an incredible ability to link things like philosophy and music together. Fascinating.

When I feel stressed, lonely, and empty inside, I feel like listening to nothing but silence.153 people may disagree with me but I consider silence as the song made by nature; and I dig it.

I'll make a presumptive statement & say that men who truly, deeply love their wives think that they are most attractive without make-up. I believe this is how Cage felt about sound.

He seemed sad, when he realized that music is all the same. Look like he found a kind of peace in ambient sounds and I'm glad he could laugh here.

He's so happy I love it

The music is a language that we don't understand, and the fact of not understanding it is what makes it so attractive.

İ loved how he proves what he just said by lauhing for no reason, it made me laugh too :)

I really love the way he laughts 1:01 He's just like a little child, that's what i really like from him.

"There are two things that don’t have to mean anything; one is music, the other is laughter" Agree

John Cage The student told the teacher Suzuki: "I am very discouraged, what can I do?" The master replied: "encourage others"

Cage just seems so content with things just as they are, yet he helped change the world of art and music. His love for sounds and his kindness give me hope that someday, I will meet someone like him. One of the greatest musicians/philosophers of this century.

2:40 = perfection

This reminds me of my friend with perfect pitch. He studied so much music that classical music got boring as he could predict what would happen next. He only really appreciates indie/noise bands. I'm sure if you take his sense of music/sound to a further extreme, you get a John Cage.

the part when kitty came in was the best, that simple meow made me so happy and flushing with so many memories from my childhood and at present. It is priceless, thanks JC you're a genius!

why the hell did they zoom in so close on his face??

I need to play it many times to extract all of its wisdom.

Everything that can be heard and is pleasing to someone can be considered music. John Cage works off of this idea for his music. He takes the noises of the everyday world, and even the moments of silence, and uses them to create musical masterpieces. Genius.

"Its hard to believe a year later he made his debut in Mortal Kombat.. " LOL

What's new is he's bringing that to attention, it's not background noise that you "need to filter" anymore, it's the sounds that you're going to listen carefully in a concert hall. The context in which it is inserted is different, and it is important in some way.

I think he's a genius! The way he composes I just love!!!

His candid outlook on ambient sound is probably one of the most foundational forms of artistic appreciation; appreciation for the art found (or heard) in everyday life, outside of any composite structure. To have exercised this outlook as part of the body of his musical works just goes to show how inspired he was by the world around him.

Music, laughter and silence (interesting). Silence has become so difficult to find that it's practically extinct. And, traffic has replaced it as the background soundtrack of our lives subsequent to industrial and high tech living...

Probably one of the most beautiful ways to describe Silence, truely subtle yet meaningful. Will miss john cage and his friend merce cunningham, and thier laughter !

such a kind and genuine and open man who was so appreciative of life. He is such a joy to listen to!

Good interview, great guy, he was very Zen.

I never knew him, but I love this man! If ever there was a truly enlightened master, it's John Cage. And yet he made no grand claims about himself whatsoever. He just shared what he loved. And I understand that to know him was to love him.

thank you so much for uploading this - it's simply a great eye- (or ear-)opener.

This man is so beyond genius, It pisses me off I didn't think of making a song with no notes.

This guy's philosophy on sound and music is intense. I don't know if I could handle it. He's way too impressive. A complete genius. Also, a BAMF.

The video should haave lasted until 4:33

An artist respects the silence; it serves as the foundation of creativity.

I watch this video every time I get frustrated writing, practicing, or performing music. Listening to Cage talk about his love for sound and laugh about it makes me feel better immediately.

Yes yes just wonderful!!!!!!

The source is the French documentary "Écoute (Listen)" (1992).

In whole honesty; I was thinking about my "interactive sound environment' project for my degree and I was thinking about all the sounds of traffic that I hear whilst waiting for public transport. The difference weather makes, hearing the transition from no traffic to bird song and back to traffic, etc. I instantly thought of Cage's Silence and this video gives me so many quotes to use in my research, that I am very grateful to jdavidm for posting this beauty, well done sir!!

I love the background 'sound' in this. It emphasizes his mission. Perfect.

I was in a concert a few weeks ago, and the orchestra played a work by Cage. It was one chord, played trough one hour, every 4 seconds. You know, it was the most intense music I heard, because I felt asleep, I was bored, I started to think in some things, good things, in conclusion, his music COMMUNICATED me something. Was emotional, a really complete music!

John Cage was a brilliant man. I agree with his take on sound just for what it is and not trying to play a part (i.e. to be something other than just what it is.). Some have said John Cage was putting down music but I disagree. Cage was talking about sounds in their purest forms of which music is a subset.

I never in my life enjoyed the actual sound of traffic, only in films and TV... the idea that traffic can be beautiful, akin to silence or white noise... I feel something there, thank you for nearly convincing me, John Cage. I have some listening to do!

My favorite composer❤️❤️❤️

Talented and innovative artist and an interesting man.

every word that came out of his mouth was poetry

"I love sounds, just as they are" - Perfect saying Mr. Cage!

I love cats they never miss when they jump they can spend much time in silence and when they love you they can feel your moods and comfort you when you’re depressed.

I have always loved this video.

This man was a genius

This is such an amazing video. John Cage has been and is an inspiration for my work as a musician. There is so much humor in his books too! I can only recommend his masterpiece "Silence".

One of the most important composers of recent times without a shadow of a doubt... .

141 people don't understand the meaning of music and sound! This fascinates me in so many ways!

This explains everything! I've been following Cage, even through his tonal/formal notation phase, and I've gotta say.....this gives good insight into the 4'33 concept. I love it! Duchamp is the shit as well :D

Yes,ATMA..thanks to write here Cage's words. Thank you very much,nice soul.

It is so amazing to have this information first hand - from the man himself!

I both agree and disagree with him. I love sound for sound's sake, but I also want to listen to art that has intentions - sound which has been arranged and shaped, synthesized or found sounds, played instruments, patterns, expectation, suprise, boredom, creativity. A playground for the soul. Ambient sound is just one tool in a whole infinity of creative possibilities. I love the sound of traffic, waterfalls, I love the soundtrack in the game Limbo, which mostly consists of filtered ambient noises, drones, and natural foley FX, and when I want to compose, I like to wallow in silence for a few hours - go for a walk and listen to the sounds of nature, of people talking in the background. Then I come home and compose and all hell breaks loose. I cannot live on a diet of 100% ambient sound.

As a physicist, I have long thought of Cage as the musical equivalent of Einstein for his expansion of the conceptual foundations of music theory, so it is nice to hear him make the space-time connections here. Many can't see past 4:33 (the most controversial composition ever?), but his work is a breath of fresh air to anyone who wants to hear music that doesn't insist on being something else. Much of it is quite beautiful, often in ways no other composer has imagined.

He is just great!

SILENCE IS THE MOST POWERFUL ELEMENT OF MUSIC WITHOUT THE DARK, THERE WOULD BE NO LIGHT Yin and Yang is universal, and everywhere. Beautiful video, and beautiful sentiment.

When I hear what we call music, it seems to me that someone is talking But when I hear traffic, I dont have the feeling that anyone is talking I don't need someone to talk to me - John Cage This is why I hate music This is why I teach music

"There are two things that don't have to mean anything: 1. Music and 2. Laughter." Beautiful quote.

I just love him.

2:37 "Whereas I love sounds... just as they are." *heart melts*

Uma das maiores cabeças do século, pude ouvi-lo em S Paulo, na Bienal de Artes!

What I love about John Cage is that there is nothing revolutionary about what he is saying here. Through his study of music and art over the years, he eventually found himself at the core of ancient Zen/Taoist philosophy.

He changed how we see and think and his ideas have stood the test of time.

Silence, wonderfull Mister

Here's why John Cage is a hack, physically: His music is very very very very very high entropy. Beethoven's music is very very very very low entropy. If I ever become a physics professor, I'm going to use this as joke every year.

Get a load a this guy

You taught me so much Mr.Cage!!

I love his Laughter!!!!

Please, when you post something of this sort, write at least the source you took it from if you're not in the mood to write the whole information about it (year, location, context of the interview, etc). I don't know about copyright on youtube, but as you're quoting someone's work, you should make reference to them at least in description. sorry

does anyone have info on where this interview was. who conducted it. just the kind of thing you would need for citations

So so so so so so awesome

his laughs put shivers down my back

Traffic = chance operations.

" ." -Everyone

This is my favourite video on the internet.

What a beautiful man!

this guy would hate to have tinnitus

why is 3:01 so funny to me😂😂 everytime i get to this part i laugh like a donkey on crack

I like his way of thinking, and also that everytime he pauses a Horn goes off in the background sounds.

What a lovely person :)

Skip to 4:33 for the best part

I would call him a composer. He makes music. And even on your terms, he makes music. He composes plenty of composition with notes, melodies and all of that kind of stuff.

This man changed my whole perspective on how I listen to the world. If you can't relate to his idea's then why even comment on them?

I like the idea of everyday sounds as some sort of one long ever changing coposition

At around 2:30 when Cage describes his lack of need for sounds to have meaning is when he really exposes the fraud that his music is. Music, as all arts, is communicative. Cage simply admits that his "music" is not music. If you look at the history of music, and the biological roots for it in the emotive system - it becomes evident that music is a language of emotional communication. By not distinguishing between "sounds" and "music", Cage is attempting to destroy the concept of music altogether, since it is a redundancy.

one is music and the other is...? love affair?

Art is something that can be interpreted in multiple ways and has creative drive behind it. Art can be anything, and, in a way, art is in everything.

A man in his own rules of lifestyle admired 🙏