How Pink Floyd Got Stephen Hawking to Speak on 'Keep Talking'

The sample of Stephen Hawking on “Keep Talking” wasn’t recorded originally for the band. It came from a British Telecom commercial where Hawking narrated a short piece about human communication. Producer Bob Ezrin heard the ad and thought the words — “For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals” — perfectly fit the album’s theme of failed dialogue. Pink Floyd asked Hawking for permission, and after hearing a rough mix of the track, he agreed. No money changed hands; he just liked the song.

David Gilmour and Polly Samson wrote the rest of the lyrics after the sample was already in place. The song is built around the speech, not the other way around. Gilmour has said Hawking’s words gave the song its emotional center, so the band worked the verses around that opening idea. The theme of communication breakdown — between people, technology, and society — was already on their minds during The Division Bell sessions. The sample just sharpened the focus.