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 turn 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 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 sound of silence

(http://sglyrics.myrmid.com/sounds.htm)

Written by the group Simon & Garfunkel in 1964, “The Sound of Silence” criticizes the lack of communication they observe within society. People are “hearing without listening” and “talking without speaking”; words go in one ear and out the other without having any real meaning or being interpreted. People are too scared to break the silence that “like a cancer grows” and they write “songs that voices never share”. As the song begins, a man is dreaming of this silent world, which in reality, is the world he lives in. Like the Allegory of the Cave, the man is alone in the light; he is enlightened and wants to help the people achieve a deeper, less shallow communication, and therefore, understanding between each other. But his “words like silent raindrops fell” and no one takes heed to his message. The man-made neon god the people pray to can represent several ideas; however, whether it is an atomic bomb of the Cold or Vietnam War, or the flashing advertisement of the media and pop culture, it symbolizes more superficiality. While the prophets’ words are also turning into silence, the messages are lost in apartment buildings and subways where people are so close together, yet still unable to communicate.

                In an interview of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel in 1969 (Simon and Garfunkel Interview), they addressed the hunger and inequality that ruled America at the time, as well as the Vietnam War and war in general. Although “The Sound of Silence” is not linked to a particular event, it is possible the lack of communication described could also represent the ignorance of some significant issues:  racism, hunger, and the uselessness of war. The song demands for people to break the silence and focus on these more significant worries. Speaking about the Vietnam war, Garfunkel reflects: “It’s very easy to lose sight of … what it means for a man to be killed by somebody else’s gun. He’s at home, he’s in Iowa one day, and the next day he’s in a state that he’s supposed to feel that this is worth it. For me to be in this bush now, trying to kill that guy and be in the position where this guy could kill me, I’m supposed to feel this all makes sense to me and it’s worth it. I’m fighting for something that makes it worth me being in this state. It’s crap.” (Simon and Garfunkel Interview) Clearly, Garfunkel is speaking against the military propaganda that has existed as long as wars have and in this case, it is the “neon god” that people blindly bow to. The murder of Kitty Genovese also took place in 1964 and became a shocking, wildly popular story. Why? Thirty-eight witnesses watched the woman being attacked and killed without offering any help ( Murder of Kitty Genovese). Again, while the song was not based solely on this, or any other event, it was issues such as these that moved Simon & Garfunkel to write the song.

  

2dannyc89, posting to youtube.com. “Simon and Garfunkel Interview”. CBS, 1969. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32ekodge5lk&feature=related

Robinson, Andrea L. “Sounds of Silence”. Simon and Garfunkel Lyrics Archive, May 1, 2003. http://sglyrics.myrmid.com/sounds.htm