“Fools” said I, “You do not know/
Silence like a cancer grows.

I like both the original acoustic version of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” and the more popular electric version equally. It depends on my mood. This was one of the first songs Simon and Garfunkel recorded. Surprisingly, it flopped and they broke up. It was re-produced and became a number one hit so they got back together and the rest is history.

The song tells the story of a man who awakes from a dream and sees a world (much like ours) in which people fail to communicate with each other and are blinded by commercialism. He tries to waken them from their slumber and encourage them to break the silence, but it appears he fails. Or does he?

This song is also famous for being in The Graduate. If you haven’t seen it, you are in for a treat. It is Dustin Hoffman’s debut movie.

The Sound of Silence Lyrics

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,
And 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.

written by Paul Simon