Do you know what it's like to be truly alone? To know something that nobody else knows, that nobody else can ever know? I don't mean a secret, I mean something that nobody will ever, or can ever, understand?
In the country of the blind, they say, the one-eyed man is king. Well, imagine the one-eyed man lives on a planet where everyone is, and always has been, blind. Nobody knows the concept of sight or vision. Nobody understands him when he tries to describe what "seeing" actually is. He can't talk to anyone about what a beautiful sunset it was last night, or how the moon sparkles on the ocean waves.
I'm listening to an an album by John Martyn called "Inside Out", and it's black and white. To be more accurate it's black on white, and always has been. Black on a white background. But you will never see that, because I'm not talking about the album cover. I mean the words "Inside Out". Inside is white, and Out is black. Because Inside is twice as white as Out is black, the white is more prominent, hence "black on white". As I listen to the music, whenever I think of the album name I see those two colours, and for me the perfect album cover would be a plain white background (matt white, not shiny), with the words "Inside Out" in thin matt black writing.
You see? You don't understand what I mean, and you never will. Although other synaesthetes may see this, their colours won't be the same as mine. I am the only person in the world who gets this particular impression from John Martyn's album, and in this matter I am as alone as any sighted person in a world of the blind can ever be.
In the country of the blind, they say, the one-eyed man is king. Well, imagine the one-eyed man lives on a planet where everyone is, and always has been, blind. Nobody knows the concept of sight or vision. Nobody understands him when he tries to describe what "seeing" actually is. He can't talk to anyone about what a beautiful sunset it was last night, or how the moon sparkles on the ocean waves.
I'm listening to an an album by John Martyn called "Inside Out", and it's black and white. To be more accurate it's black on white, and always has been. Black on a white background. But you will never see that, because I'm not talking about the album cover. I mean the words "Inside Out". Inside is white, and Out is black. Because Inside is twice as white as Out is black, the white is more prominent, hence "black on white". As I listen to the music, whenever I think of the album name I see those two colours, and for me the perfect album cover would be a plain white background (matt white, not shiny), with the words "Inside Out" in thin matt black writing.
You see? You don't understand what I mean, and you never will. Although other synaesthetes may see this, their colours won't be the same as mine. I am the only person in the world who gets this particular impression from John Martyn's album, and in this matter I am as alone as any sighted person in a world of the blind can ever be.
