Sounds of Silence, The - Simon & Garfunkel (cover-live by Bill Sharkey)

Sounds of Silence, The (Simon & Garfunkel, 1965). Live cover performance by Bill Sharkey, Home Studio, Hawaii Kai, HI. 2024-03-14. "Keeping the Oldies & Classics Alive"

"The Sounds of Silence," written by Paul Simon, was Simon & Garfunkel's first release and it hit the no. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965-1966 (Whitburn, 2013). The song was released in 1964 on the duo's debut album "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." with the title "The Sound of Silence;" the song was remixed and released as a single the following year and was printed as "The Sounds of Silence." The new remixed version was then added to their 2nd album titled "Sounds of Silence," which was released in 1966 (Whitburn, 2006). According to Simon, "It's a young lyric, but not bad for a 21-year-old. It's not a sophisticated thought, but a thought that I gathered from some college reading material or something. It wasn't something that I was experiencing at some deep, profound level - nobody's listening to me, nobody's listening to anyone - it was a post-adolescent angst, but it had some level of truth to it and it resonated with millions of people" (songfacts, 2023). "Despite its great popularity, Blender magazine voted [the song] the 42nd worst song ever, remarking sardonically that 'If Frasier Crane were a song, he would sound like this'"(songfacts, 2023).

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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
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