"The Sound of Silence" is a heck of a tune. Better than a lot of poetry. It excels in message, melody, harmony, and the wonderful imagery it evokes.
Paul Simon wrote the song at age 21 (in his bathroom, because it was private and the tile generated neat echos). According to Simon, it is essentially about how people go about their lives in silence because society has become materialistic and people are obsessed with consumerism. When the narrator implores others to wake up, he is greeted with silence.
Garfunkel said the song addresses "the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly intentionally, but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other."
A bummer, but still a masterpiece.
The Sound of Silence
By Simon & Garfunkel, 1964
Written by Paul Simon
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
10 thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking.
People hearing without listening.
People writing songs that voices never shared.
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."
https://rockysmith.files.wordpress.com/2024/04/sound-of-silence.mp3
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