Sound of Silence

Sound of Silence (The Sound of Silence 1964)
Simon & Garfunkel



Here, I'd like to do a simple explanation about the motive for this song.

Sound of Silence was written by Paul Simon in 1964. That's a date of much importance 'cause 1964 is the year after the President of the U.S. John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He was assassinated on Nov, 22, 1963, and Paul Simon in the early part of 1964 wrote this song about the fear, loneliness and sadness that Americans felt. After the death of JFK, the environment and atmosphere were changed there. Many people don't know what to do and they were lost. Therefore, the song is much about being alone as well as being in the dark. That was the reason for Sound of Silence.

Hello darkness, my old friend,
Ive 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
And no one deared
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 signs said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisperd in the sounds of silence.