>Silent running
Submarine.
In the U.S. Navy submarine fleet, silent running is a stealth mode utilized over the last 100 years following the introduction of passive sonar in the latter part of the First World War. The concept is to avoid discovery by the adversary's passive sonar by seeking to eliminate all unnecessary noise.
1972 Douglas Trumbull movie.
After the end of all botanical life on Earth, ecologist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) maintains a greenhouse on a space station in order to preserve various plants for future generations. Assisted by three robots and a small human crew, Lowell rebels when he is ordered to destroy the greenhouse in favor of carrying cargo, a decision that puts him at odds with everyone but his mechanical companions. Lowell and his robots are forced to do anything necessary to keep their invaluable greenery alive.
Mike & the mechanics song.
He's trying to get a message back to his family to warn them that the impending disaster is coming. Hence the line, 'Can you hear me, can you hear me calling you?' " The phrase "Silent Running" doesn't show up in the lyric; it's a reference to the storyline where the father keeps asking if the son can hear him running.