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 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 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
In tenement halls"; And whispered in the sounds of silence.
