The fact that this song is still being actively commented on for twenty-three years (and after nearly SIXTY years of its release) is a testament to its profundity. My first exposure to it was from my sister's 8-track tape of S&G greatest hits, released in the early 70s. (I had no idea they had already parted ways back then.) I've read hundreds of interpretations here, but there are probably thousands. All seem pretty much similar and I can understand and accept the ideas in most all of them. I am even moved and intrigued by the most contrived ones, and open my mind to the possibilities.
I'd like to bring up three main points, only one of which I saw mentioned one time, and other lyrics of which many have interpreted.
First, the first line of the song, the concept of darkness, in "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.." I believe is a reference to having had a dream and waking up to remember it, he re-approaches the darkness to say or find out more about it. The darkness is a place he's been before, and might represent here an attempt to enter his subconscious mind, the mind of his state of sleep.
He has spoken with it in the past.
Darkness is a place of the unknown, the unseen, and it is often portrayed as an evil place, where bad things happen under the cover of darkness. For the dreamer in the song, I believe it represents the unknown, but a place where when questioned, or illuminated, can or might give answers. So that's why he's here.
BUT, my main reason for this post is that I saw no comments on the "NAKED LIGHT." Only comments on what it illuminated--the neon god and the ten thousand people, maybe more, bowing and praying to it--in effect, worshipping it.
So, why NAKED light? Well, foremost I think was that Simon needed a two-syllable word to describe the light. I am no poet, so I could only think of three: COLORED, BLINDING and NAKED. Blinding would defeat the meaning of what was to follow, as it would be so bright and in the writer's (dreamer's) face it would obscure. COLORED light would alter the appearance of what was illuminated, so would not reveal the true vision. NAKED was so much better, it describes the light as unclothed, bare, unaltered, unfiltered, and importantly, not "coloring" or changing the true appearance of what was taking place in it. It is the light of truth, which exposes all evil, wrong, or deception.. (The other light, indirectly referenced as a manmade "neon god" most here see as television.)
As several have pointed out, the people bowing and praying to it was inspired by the O.T. account of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, who grew anxious and impatient for Moses to come down from Mt. Zion, they do as Moses' brother instructs, they build a golden calf and worship the idol. I see the neon god of the song more generally than TV, since neon was the gas used in the glass tubing on signs of the middle 1900s. TV, back then was a vacuum enclosed in glass, the picture tube through which a beam of electrons passed. I think this neon god is advertising, which includes TV, the type that gets attention because it could communicate words. People in the vision were leading a life of shallowness, striving to be what the media claimed to be reality. For the neon signs, they were in the form of the bent glass tubes shaped as letters and objects, glass tubes filled with neon--which incidentally lights green when a high voltage is placed across it.)
Third, the concept of writing on a wall. As many have pointed out, dates back to the O.T. account of when the Israelites were under Babylonian captivity, Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream where he saw writing on a wall. He summoned the Israelite prophet Daniel to interpret it. The interpretation was that his reign as king would soon come to an end. And it did, in a very wild sort of way. The variation in this song is that the words on the subway wall ARE the words of the prophet. But it does take place in this writer's dream. The prophet's words being a telling of things to come. Whatever actual words that Simon is referring to, I do not know. One commenter here says it was an obscenity Simon once saw on scrawled a subway [station] wall, along with an illustration.
Simon would use this "writing on the wall" concept again in his hit KODACHROME, where "although my lack of education hasn't hurt me none, I could read the writing on the wall." (Other than his grammar). Reading the writing on the wall is a phrase meaning, in terms of a famous modern day philosopher and shaper of American and World history, "I am not a smart man, but I..." "have seen the clues, and by them, have a good idea of what's going to happen next, or soon."
My opinion? The things to come are here, the disrespect for the truth in all forms of modern mass media--the portrayal of opinions as facts. . The unquestioned acceptance of it, because we have no time or desire to explore its validity, and the spreading of it on social media. Our society is one of people with smartphones for brains. Not thinking for themselves, they use their fingers to find the answer, and accept the top hit, because it is the quickest, not necessarily the most correct, because they only have two minutes at best, due to their busy life, or length of their attention span. And they must move on quickly, because they have other connections to make, digitally, with their fingers, not in person. The only person they seem to physically converse with is Siri, or her digital counterpart. They don't look at you when you get on an elevator with them. They don't greet you. Often, they don't even know you are there. I have seen smartphoners miss their floors because their face is glued to their phone. I have nearly hit pedestrians while driving when they walk out from between cars with their faces buried in their phones. All this is what "words of the prophet" on the subway wall was warning of in the song.
The fact that this song is still being actively commented on for twenty-three years (and after nearly SIXTY years of its release) is a testament to its profundity. My first exposure to it was from my sister's 8-track tape of S&G greatest hits, released in the early 70s. (I had no idea they had already parted ways back then.) I've read hundreds of interpretations here, but there are probably thousands. All seem pretty much similar and I can understand and accept the ideas in most all of them. I am even moved and intrigued by the most contrived ones, and open my mind to the possibilities.
I'd like to bring up three main points, only one of which I saw mentioned one time, and other lyrics of which many have interpreted.
First, the first line of the song, the concept of darkness, in "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.." I believe is a reference to having had a dream and waking up to remember it, he re-approaches the darkness to say or find out more about it. The darkness is a place he's been before, and might represent here an attempt to enter his subconscious mind, the mind of his state of sleep. He has spoken with it in the past.
Darkness is a place of the unknown, the unseen, and it is often portrayed as an evil place, where bad things happen under the cover of darkness. For the dreamer in the song, I believe it represents the unknown, but a place where when questioned, or illuminated, can or might give answers. So that's why he's here.
BUT, my main reason for this post is that I saw no comments on the "NAKED LIGHT." Only comments on what it illuminated--the neon god and the ten thousand people, maybe more, bowing and praying to it--in effect, worshipping it.
So, why NAKED light? Well, foremost I think was that Simon needed a two-syllable word to describe the light. I am no poet, so I could only think of three: COLORED, BLINDING and NAKED. Blinding would defeat the meaning of what was to follow, as it would be so bright and in the writer's (dreamer's) face it would obscure. COLORED light would alter the appearance of what was illuminated, so would not reveal the true vision. NAKED was so much better, it describes the light as unclothed, bare, unaltered, unfiltered, and importantly, not "coloring" or changing the true appearance of what was taking place in it. It is the light of truth, which exposes all evil, wrong, or deception.. (The other light, indirectly referenced as a manmade "neon god" most here see as television.)
As several have pointed out, the people bowing and praying to it was inspired by the O.T. account of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, who grew anxious and impatient for Moses to come down from Mt. Zion, they do as Moses' brother instructs, they build a golden calf and worship the idol. I see the neon god of the song more generally than TV, since neon was the gas used in the glass tubing on signs of the middle 1900s. TV, back then was a vacuum enclosed in glass, the picture tube through which a beam of electrons passed. I think this neon god is advertising, which includes TV, the type that gets attention because it could communicate words. People in the vision were leading a life of shallowness, striving to be what the media claimed to be reality. For the neon signs, they were in the form of the bent glass tubes shaped as letters and objects, glass tubes filled with neon--which incidentally lights green when a high voltage is placed across it.)
Third, the concept of writing on a wall. As many have pointed out, dates back to the O.T. account of when the Israelites were under Babylonian captivity, Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream where he saw writing on a wall. He summoned the Israelite prophet Daniel to interpret it. The interpretation was that his reign as king would soon come to an end. And it did, in a very wild sort of way. The variation in this song is that the words on the subway wall ARE the words of the prophet. But it does take place in this writer's dream. The prophet's words being a telling of things to come. Whatever actual words that Simon is referring to, I do not know. One commenter here says it was an obscenity Simon once saw on scrawled a subway [station] wall, along with an illustration.
Simon would use this "writing on the wall" concept again in his hit KODACHROME, where "although my lack of education hasn't hurt me none, I could read the writing on the wall." (Other than his grammar). Reading the writing on the wall is a phrase meaning, in terms of a famous modern day philosopher and shaper of American and World history, "I am not a smart man, but I..." "have seen the clues, and by them, have a good idea of what's going to happen next, or soon."
My opinion? The things to come are here, the disrespect for the truth in all forms of modern mass media--the portrayal of opinions as facts. . The unquestioned acceptance of it, because we have no time or desire to explore its validity, and the spreading of it on social media. Our society is one of people with smartphones for brains. Not thinking for themselves, they use their fingers to find the answer, and accept the top hit, because it is the quickest, not necessarily the most correct, because they only have two minutes at best, due to their busy life, or length of their attention span. And they must move on quickly, because they have other connections to make, digitally, with their fingers, not in person. The only person they seem to physically converse with is Siri, or her digital counterpart. They don't look at you when you get on an elevator with them. They don't greet you. Often, they don't even know you are there. I have seen smartphoners miss their floors because their face is glued to their phone. I have nearly hit pedestrians while driving when they walk out from between cars with their faces buried in their phones. All this is what "words of the prophet" on the subway wall was warning of in the song.