Hello darkness my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left it's seeds while I was sleeping

And a 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 streetlamp

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