There have been many offers of a philosophy of voice, but where is the philosophy of accent? Accent is the accident of voice, that arbitrary and inessential straying of the voice from itself that nevertheless makes it what it is. But if my accent is the mark of what is characteristic in my voice, it is because it is the mark in me of a generality or repeatability. There can be by definition no unique accent, for all accents are echoes and concordances – and, as such, may also serve to betray one. So accent oscillates between the noise of voice and the voice of noise. As such it goes to the heart of the defining paradox of voice, that it expresses me because it goes beyond what I can myself make of it, or make out in it. These will be the terms in which I will aim to meditate on the idea and actuality of accent, considering its beauties and liabilities.