David Gilmour sings with his guitar

David Gilmour, lead guitarist of Pink Floyd, considers himself 'inarticulate,' I read once. Maybe long-time bandmate, the great Roger Waters, convinced him that because Waters wrote most of the words in their songs, David lacked expressive power. But David sings with his guitar, literally and figuratively.

Everyone's favorite song is "Wish You Were Here" off the Floyd's album of the same name. Gilmour tonally vocalizes with his guitar during the bridge so seamlessly, his mouth is another string on his famous black Strat. For years I sang along with those notes just as I did the words without realizing that I wasn't really saying anything. Inarticulate expression can feel very meaningful.

He does another kind of singing, in more of a stand-alone scat style, on "Cymbaline" if you'd like to check that out with fresh ears. In the film, Live at Pompeii, David's climactic, so-called, inarticulate vocals in "A Saucerful of Secrets" bring the piece to life, and make him a legend. The picture above is the young David singing through his hair during "A.S.O.S."

Anyone that's listened to David's solos has felt the nuances of communication in them. When PF reunited in London as part of Geldof's Live8, did you notice the camera went to a shot of the London Eye ferris wheel as Gilmour's solo during "Money" began? Those notes transcended the ride through nightime sky, and so did the listeners' spirits.

A Floyd forum commenter pointed out that the bent note in "Young Lust" is the perfect musical recreation of an erection. Listen again and you'll hear this to be true. Just this morning his instrumental "Raise My Rent" put a smile on my face because I noticed his repetition of a couple picks more because it would sound right.

Now, there's articulation and then there's art, and David Gilmour accomplishes both. We get messages through the syllables Gilmour lets fly. PinK Floyd's Cambridge "A's" allow we who sing along to feel deadly British for a moment or two. In every sense of the word, David Gilmour is massively articulate; Waters be still.