Your Silent Face Lyrics

Lyric discussion by circusjuggler 

Cover art for Your Silent Face lyrics by New Order

I'm far from being sure about the point of this one, but I'm gonna try to find it anyway...

Well, I think it's about a person who is trying to find a new meaning for his own life after witnessing (or even taking part in) something shameful ("Rise and fall of shame / A search that shall remain / We asked you what you'd seen / You said you didn't care"), so he put himself in a kind of meditational trip, which has really bothered his friends ("The sign that leads the way / The path we can not take / You've caught me at a bad time / So why don't you piss off") 'cos now he's living a life in 'black&white' and practically without communication for trying 'to see the light in the end of the tunnel' at last.

Regarding more specifically these lines below, I think Barney meant he's so busy at that 'trip' that he cannot even for a second consider other opinions, nevertheless their friends still have some hope about his return to mental sanity.

"A thought that never changes Remains a stupid lie It's NEVER been quite the same No hearing or breathing No movement, no colors Just silence"

And their friends are almost giving up for trying to bring him back to the reality ("Sound formed in a vacuum / May seem a waste of time / It's ALWAYS been just the same")...

In short, I think Barney is making a mockery of that 'guru' thing, despite the solemn tone of its melody...