Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming

And the sign said, "The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence"


Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by annacronism, Mahasquid, ashakitten4, DAIRYDAWG, sjaydeb, NonDiluted

The Sound Of Silence Lyrics as written by Paul Simon

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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The Sound of Silence song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    FWIW, while it has a lot of information about the history of the song, the Wikipedia article only really explains the first line, not the song overall. It doesn't explain any of the business with the neon sign and the people worshiping it and all that, which is the part I always found really bizarre, even kind of trippy.

    picturesofthesunon November 30, 2011   Link

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