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 to disturb the sound of silence
“Fool”, said I, “You do not know,
Silence like a cancer grows”
Hear my words and I might teach you
Take my arms and 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