John Cage "4'33"

[thejerk1126]

What you would hear are my footsteps and the door slamming

[thaysacorr]

UAU! I just can't believe this!

[pomeeelo92]

That's Bill Clinton playing the violin at 1:32 -- and you can see Chuck Norris at 1:40! If Chuck likes it, I'm changing my opinion of Cage: he was definitely a tremendous genius...

[flippytomtom]

Why did they get an orchestra for this it's so lame all the music theory guys I kno think it's genius it's the most lame thing ever why would u pay for this when u can lay in ur room and hear this for free If I was there I would have stood up and yelled start the song! Wait maybe John cage is just trolling

[dojo999]

Ugh, yeah, this is my jam!  TURN THAT SHIT UP!

[LomovNizni]

tibia soundtrack

[CiannaSplendiferous]

You should probably research John Cage, and why he wrote this. There was a reason for it.

[crazypoofs]

@CiannaSplendiferous he didn't write anything. silence is not music. silence is not art. this man is fraud

[CiannaSplendiferous]

@crazypoofs He didn't just do this one thing. And if you took any music classes above elementary school you would learn what he was showing. Music is everywhere in the world, and it is always necessary for it to be made through an orchestra. It's called controversial for a reason.

[crazypoofs]

@CiannaSplendiferous i'm aware this is not his only work and i understand the thought behind it but its not music. you don't need a class to tell you what music is. silence between notes is important in music but without the music it is meaningless. how bout i hand you a blank canvas and call it a painting? this is not controversial. its not art. its not music.... its nothing

[tigerhawkteenager]

This is the dumbest concept in the history of music. I can't believe that people paid money to not hear this. Everyone in this video is a pretentious douche. God forbid a cell phone goes off and people hear something. Why is the audience silent? Isn't the point to hear the musical nature of the noises in your environment?

But I understand some people must be actual fans of this, so I'm going to give you a chance to defend this. If you can do it without sounding like a prick, I'll change my mind.

[mossfitz]

The Emperor is getting distinctly chilly here.



[ph33rt3hn00b]

*cough ahem cough cough ahem*



[vilameat]

Silence is powerful

[TheSmack77]

see our response + homage to this great original thinker.x

[amgartsh9]

i really hope people didn't pay to go to this... presentation..?

[Gunbladeisbroken]

imagine if someone farted during this!!! LOL!!!

[GameAddictFenton]

1:32 Haha look at that guy. "Hehe... Boobs... Don't laugh, don't laugh"

[89NIKOL]

I can accept that as a new movement of music, theatre and another arts in 50ths 60ths in USA and then Europe...Cage, Pollock, Beck, Malina they made a new revolution of arts and dont forget about la mama theatre

[UMAMIMAMU]

Absolutely ludicrous. If John Cage was still alive I'd smack the shit out of him for being so stupid. This isn't art, it's not avant-garde, it's not genius. It's not even clever. They say this is a top ten video. Well I feel bad for the chap who got ousted from this list because of this bit of nonsense. Maybe I shouldn't be angry at him though. Maybe I should direct my anger toward the people who help perpetuate this ridiculousness. There's officially a minimum of 8'070 morons in the world.

[TheHjort]

@UMAMIMAMU

Well since it tend to provoke people like yourself as much as it does, can't you recognise even the slightest artistical quality in it? :)

Sometimes art is supposed to challenge us and provoke us, and reading a comment like yours, I think that Cage did a pretty good job here ;)

[WalletedSaltines]

@UMAMIMAMU You sound so fucking mad over a joke. Get your panties out of a bunch and grow the hell up.

[Co0jq500080style]

@UMAMIMAMU If he had've just tossed a bunch of folks into a room, it would've be a bit drole. Fact is, John Cage did a fair amount of research. Maybe you should, as well?

[VidMasterZ]

I give it 2/5 stars (which is my rating for white noise, or anything that doesn't actively suck).

[Geniusmu09]

2,228 people are not musicians

[SelasSolaris]

Imagine if your phone went off in that...

[crushy3]

SICK drop.

[rossmmross]

what a load of crap.

[mathgeekatheart]

the musicians got paid for that...i guess i can play as well as the pros

[ritualistica]

Monumentaly pretentious

[xbrunk]

i like the part when the instruments play silence

[pinkalltheway92]

the whole time i was watching this i never coughed.

[TheRedtiger78]

... *cough* COugh * couGH * ...

[chanse117]

At least my mute button got a well deserved break.

[trp8155]

I tink this is brilliant letting the audience hear and enjoy the sound.

[keerkhor]

Wow, this is gay.

[xX60DemonDrummer09Xx]

Still better than Bieber

[PunkyVuijst]

wat te fuck ????

only Silence

this LABIEL !!!

[frankentomato]

At school, I'm organizing an ensemble to perform this. The problem is if we're allowed to perform it.

[asharn1998]

BEST SONG EVER.

[danieltobey]

I wanna see Vevo take this down.

[marigolds44]

morons



[carolinebenoudiz]

silence is the greatest of all sounds

[steveorama1978]

at 4.00 when the woman coughs, i'd woulda shouted "GODDAMNIT!! FUCK !! ..start over..."

[moccaOwca]

i can play it on my old calculator

[SamuraiRui]

Music is not silence, this is just stupid. And yes i understand the concept perfectly. But to make people pay to watch a full scale orchestra doing nothing is just idiotic. If i want to see the sound of life around me i just go take a walk in the park or go to the foresrt or whatever.. this is not the best example for that at all

[TheHRokh]

@SamuraiRui Its far from being idiotic because ppl are not listening the sound of life but they are just listening the music that they are imagining and that is wonderful!

[AtomicFuture1982]

@SamuraiRui Do you think all the people payed to see 04:33 of silence and then got home? They played more things you know?

[KyeTheN00b]

Best way to block out noise - play this on full volume

[tatripp]

I can play this on violin

[thecazzaxxx]

is the sound broken on my computer?

[marcio13174111]

HAHAHAHA CISZA, NIE MA MUZYKI, TAK JAK W TIBII!!!!!

Eng.: Hahaha silence! There is no music. Just like in tibia LOL

[SoonerBorn2082]

If SOPA/PIPA are passed, silence will be copyrighted.

[Gudenfast]

@SoonerBorn2082 Silence already IS copyright ;-)

Search google for "The Planets sued by John Cage"

[KingMishming]

"I forgot my instrument" is no longer an excuse to get out of orchestra practice.

[SchlomoBagelbaum]

I can initiate and complete a bowel movement in 4 minutes 33 seconds. Can I be a composer too?

[ngricca]

Fart at 4:16!

[yummybeefyboy]

Silence is beautiful in it's own way

[ihatej00poo]

this entire thing reminds me of "the emporer's new clothes"

[sn0metalhead]

it only takes one laugh.. just one.

[FromMuToYou]

I wish the quality was a little better -.-

[FeyriVs]

have to sample this.

[TheTazzietiger]

reminds me of Kazimir Malevichs Black Square

[TheTazzietiger]

be funny if someone in the audience had a ipod with portable speakers ..they could play something ..ac/dc maybee

[GnosisMan50]

You can't help but get pissed off at this so called composition: he did nothing. That the audience applauded to nothing is a clear indication of their gullibility and inability to realize they were had. John justifies his composition as Avant Garde or as subjective but if music is suppose to inspire, if it is suppose to move us ecstatically, this can't be music. You are better off meditating.

If i had a chance, i'd tell John to go fuck himself.

[Wyverneer]

@GnosisMan50 Every day, I'm amazed at how ignorant Youtube's users are. You guys reach new heights every single day.

[GnosisMan50]

@Wyverneer .....can you explain this composition?

[Wyverneer]

@GnosisMan50 Music is an art form using sound and silence as a medium. There is silence in the lack of instruments playing. There is sound in the shuffling of feet, the occasional cough, the turning of pages. This is music.

This composition challenges the conventional perception of what music is, which is a series of loud, organized, predictable sounds. Makes the listeners aware of the music in ambient sounds.

[GnosisMan50]

@Wyverneer No doubt we all have different feeling of what constitutes music. Wikipedia says that

his 4:33 became one of the most controversial compositions of the 20th century. I can see why. Unlike you, his composition got me angry. He ought to have called it "The 4:33 silent treatment".

Anyway, and even though I know more about him, it doesn't help to appreciate his music. I even sampled a lot it on Legalsounds com but to no avail. He's just too abstract for me.

[Clairs88]

@Wyverneer Sorry for contradiction, this IS NOT music! You may call it a contemporary piece of art, a theatre project, whatever you prefer, and you may like it or not (I don't), but it is no music. Music is the vibration of a string, a natural frequency, a sound your ear finds 'pleasant'. Remember Pythagoras? A cough or a yawn are but an interference. That's physics, beyond any opinion...

[Wyverneer]

@Clairs88 You're trying to objectify art, something many, many people have tried to do before you. It can't be done. This is music, no matter how little pleasure you personally derive from the ambient noise from the audience.

You're indirectly implying that you're the authority on what is or isn't music because you personally don't find these sounds pleasant. What if somebody else does? What if their brain sends them a small dose of dopamine when they hear these coughs/foot shuffles?

[animaldan]

@Wyverneer Agree...

[DamnedTheMan3]

just learned this on guitar!

[niccilomachiaveli]

wow, it's fucking nothing.

[johnross456]

The conductor swelled with pride at the audience's applause

[skulldyvan]

Can I get this mixed with the Space jam soundtrack?

[polkadotSUN]

Ooh can I get this song on iTunes?

[SwaikhaOfficial]

that was fucking stupid.

[MrTomcanbeuseful]

"Art is a sort of experimental station in which one tries out living." ~Cage

I did not enjoy the "intervals." 

[gogglesntophat]

LMAO "full orchestral version"!!!

[olivierjaquet]

Actually this piece is absolutely genius for a simple reason, no other piece in the world, creates that much tension or make you so uncomfortable, especially if you listen it live. Absolutely fantastic, John Cage is a Genius.

[azile21]

I am here because of a 9gag post.

[2magees]

@azile21

...Fuck 9gag. Funnyjunk is what it's all about. <3

[lukewilmot]

WHO FARTED!!

[Cerou94]

Musician #1: Hey this is my 1st time performing live, I'm kinda nervous

Musician #2: Nah man, you'll be fine. Trust me... :p

[321iseeyou]

The yawn at 3:11. Some doesn't appreciate this clear masterpiece.

[KamkoTheFireKat]

I totally hope that Glee covers this...

[mAXtAXIbOY]

WHY THE HELL IS EVERYONE COUGHING AT THE SAME TIME? IS IT LIKE EVERYONE'S SITTING HOLDING IN THEIR COUGHS? IS IT SO FILTHY AIR THERE THAT EVERYONE, FUCKING EVERYONE NEEDS TO COUGH.....I DO NOT GET IT!

[maliokmobeen]

Where can i get notes of this music? it is laughable but he actually flipped the pages.

[TheMusicguynyc]

too loud!

[grinchychristmas]

This is what happens when pretentious morons try to be profound.

Avante Garde Garbage.

[DickNixonArisen]

I like Type O Negative's "the misinterpretation of silence and its diastrous consequences" a lot better, but this is pretty cool. Seriously, fuckoff. Something that makes you think and provokes such a strong reaction is leagues better than 4:33 of some pop we've all heard a billion times before.

[manka6]

This made me realise how much I hate the sound of people coughing.

[Sleyn89]

I'm gonna play this at superhigh volume to annoy my neighbours

[funmonkey68]

Who does he think he is, makes people pay to fucking see this shit. this isn't genius..... it's a waste of time to an entire crowd of people and orchestra and is considered a genius for it.

[wushugerl77]

@funmonkey68 You, who do not understand the significance of this, shall not speak.

[SamuraiRui]

@wushugerl77 YOU, who clearly are drowned in a pretentious sense of intelectuallity and think that understanding means liking or respecting... can die!

[PTKrzystek]

I'd still rather listen to this all the time than listen to any of the songs on the Top 40.

[JamieMaguireful]

I had to turn my speakers down, jesus.

[Inkubzz]

@JamieMaguireful I have a feeling I'll be thanking you later...

[williamhoratio4]

John cage was considered an avant-garde composer, this 'piece' is designed to make you question what is music and what isn't. despite having the capabilities to perform a song or at least a note it tests the boundaries of music.

[JamieMaguireful]

@williamhoratio4 John Cage = megadouche & overly pretentious then?

[williamhoratio4]

@JamieMaguireful absolutely. however work like this is so annoyingly influential (especially when looking at the history of avant-garde) that its hard to ignore sadly

[JamieMaguireful]

@williamhoratio4 I know right? We had to study this rubbish in music and I constantly see similar stuff in graphic design. Ahh!

[Aepotheosis]

You shout in pain as you realize that the artistic world is one big throbbing dick. 'Too deep for you!?' John Cage shouted after shoving his semi-erect member into your asshole as you weep in pain.

[mofunzonecom]

2:29

look at the top left

lolol

[FredericoCoelhoNunes]

The live version of this song sucks, album is much better.

[CraftyIV]

THE FUCK IS THIS.

[CraftyIV]

FUKING START FOR FUCK SAKE..

[mofunzonecom]

@CraftyIV the song is just silence smart one

[TheNatedagreat4]

?????????? I dont get it im sorry John cage.

[David0794]

Let's all hope that YouTube doesn't delete the audio track due to copyright violation...

[TheTazzietiger]

@David0794 i might rip it off make a good mp3 hey

[MsMollyxo]

This just sort of frustrates me. I cant take it seriously. Its silence, pure silence. The turning of the pages I will never understand. Its a magical understand but I wish I understood the point of this.

I respect John Cage as it is very out of the box. But even the radio broadcasting of this. Does noone understand that this is just silence !. I dont know whether to love it or hate it.

[mofunzonecom]

@MsMollyxo just marvel at the fact that he did do it

[HurricaneHaleyBailey]

@MsMollyxo i believe that the point is for people to stop and listen the sounds going on around them, such as breathing, and consider it to be music. It makes people realize that music is all around them. but yes, haha, it does seem rather odd that people would come to see that :D

[irongaldie]

ditemi se non è un mito !

[Yaenlith]

El silencio tiene mucho que decirnos...

[heysuzzz]

After each movement, it's like a coughing competition... Really? Did you all have to cough that badly? haha

[frankiesala1]

Snobbias: LOL!

[eddytanjiacheng]

It's just like musical PLANKING. D:<

[cobbesjr1]

man, this is catchy!

[QMPhilosophe]

Pretentious, anti-art doo-doo.

[FinaleGoofups]

I feel bad for the orchestra's members.

[FinaleGoofups]

Can anyone take this seriously? Are you kidding me? I have some invisible threads I want to weave into amazing invisible robes.

[Jeckich]

Я поставлю это себе на звонок.

[nukFree]

AH COMIC SANS!

[MrThewarrior345]

This bores me ...

[thedeadbaby]

man. if i could get paid doing nothing like these people that would be golden.

[thedeadbaby]

would you rather be rick rolled or listen to this? 

[xOOM9x]

@thedeadbaby never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down...

[TheBananaconda]

LOL at 5:27 they all turn the page even though the song is nothing xD

[UniversePirate]

@TheBananaconda I agree with u, but the truth is that the pauses are actually written. Eureka, the silence has rhythm.

[Leonelstudios27]

John Cage: Music troll master.

[proteincheese]

I can def audition for this orchestra

[VegasPoker]

haha I bet there are a few in the audience that have never heard of this, so they were just sitting there looking around and wondering if they'd had a stroke

[PrinceDotPoison]

If I were there, I'd have waited for about 2 mins before screaming "THIS IS THE BEST SONG EVER!" and walking out.

[zeroflowne]

Did anyone else cough at 2:50?

[CODYAYW]

John Cage: The Ultimate Troll

[Nazh88]

This is like "The Emperor's New Clothes"...

[BuecherFuerAlle]

I am waiting for someone in the Audience to yell "OI! This is fucking retarded!"

[tookarrowintheknee]

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SHIT!

[Civernetick]

Que mierda loco, osea, a mi me encanta la musica clasica, barroca, y romantica, pero esto es una cagada, osea, no tocan nada, y el chabon que lo creó se hiso famoso?? por dios, prefiero escuchar cumbia ._.

[SnuffD1]

WHAT'S THIS FUCKING GAY RETARDED SHIT !!

[ceraVSeisenberg]

@SnuffD1 BITCH SHUT UP! IT'S DEAF MAN'S FUNERAL!

[oxfordye]

@SnuffD1

Art, according to some pretentious douchebags.

[maliokmobeen]

"Silence!!! I kill you"

[manka6]

@maliokmobeen Gee, you sure can quote popular things next to something that's actually original.

[1jahblessblaze]

this is retarded

[Snobbias]

I didn't like this interpretation.

[vaan1602]

2:56 XD

[Bodhich79]

ZAZEN

[Jorbz150]

@faithhahn33 Well then why would you pay tickets for a concert when you could go to a park for free?

[faithhahn33]

@Jorbz150 Look up an interview of "Cage on Silence" here on YouTube. The short answer to your question is because most people (he assumes) don't hear the music he hears in everyday sound.

Because he is hoping for us to see things from his perspective, this is, indeed, art. That is what an artist does.

[Jorbz150]

@faithhahn33 I disagree. I don't think he express anything here.

The idea of listening to what is around you as music does not require sitting in a concert hall.

What do you think is the mood of this piece of art?

How do you think this particular aritist expressed himself?

Didn't he just have OTHER people express things for him?

I can hear music in everyday sound. Hence I wouldn't go to a concert hall to do it.

How can he be an artist if HE isn't the one expressing it?

[faithhahn33]

@Jorbz150 I agree w/your points, but maybe I didn't express what I meant; the purpose being an artist is not to necessarily express a mood or 1's self. The purpose (in my opinion, & I happen to be a graduated music theory and music tech major) is to alter the perceptions of another to be alligned with those perceptions of the artist. That's great that you hear music in everyday sound. Cage didn't expect you to, but he did want you to. He is an artist beacause he created this situation.

[faithhahn33]

@Jorbz150 And I do find most of these comments hilarious! I don't think Cage was stuffy at all. Nor was this meant to be interpereted as a very "stuffy" or "elitist" piece, though obviously it's easily misconstrued as such. Cage is a very playful man. I wish there were more artists like him, today. Listening and the ability to hear is a true gift. That's all he wants you to know when you listen to this piece.

And yes, the sheet music is a bunch of rests.

[Epeolatry1]

Took up the piano yesterday. I can already play this. All the way through.

[honron21]

Me CAGE de la risa con esta obra de CAGE.

[OmtaThien]

AKA The most pretentious show on earth.

[Hazel1312]

@OmtaThien Too deep for you

[OmtaThien]

@Hazel1312

If you think this is deep.. well then my friend you have too much Zen in you.

[NOBAMAftw]

Hahahahahahaha wow, really? Silence? Wow and people joke about being able tonsell records without music, this guy actually pulled it off. Wow

[liug2012]

Two pianos, dang

[gradfark]

John Cage is laughing his ass off. Why do I get the feeling he pulled a good one on us?