The Sound of Silence

The Sound of Silence Lyrics & Chords

“The Sounds of Silence” is the song that propelled the 1960s folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel to popularity. It was written in February 1964 by Paul Simon in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Simon conceived of the song as a way of capturing the emotional trauma felt by many Americans.[citation needed]

The song features Simon on acoustic guitar and both Simon and Garfunkel singing. It was originally recorded as an acoustic piece for their first album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., but was later overdubbed with electric instruments and re-released as a single in September 1965. The single slowly climbed the charts until it reached number one on New Year’s Day 1966. The song was included in the 1966 album Sounds of Silence.

The song was originally called “The Sounds of Silence,” and is titled that way on the early albums in which it appeared and on the single. In later compilations, it was retitled “The Sound of Silence”. Both the singular and the plural form of the word appear in the lyrics.

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LYRICS
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The Sound Of Silence (3:08) MIDI
P. Simon, 1964

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 turn 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
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sound of silence

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I have tried to put my own touch into the context of the song.

Hope you all like this rendition.

Take Care,
Keep the faith always,
Live every moment in surrender state to God,
Realize the God in you and others,
Peace be with you,
God Bless You all divine souls….

Comments

Srividya Kasturi said

Love the song, U have sung pretty well, Ranjit….though felt a slight lag in the rhythm.Did you sing on top of the original track??
Good song pick for your divine voice…
Keep singing!

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—Vidya

Posted over 2 years ago

Ranjit Salian said

Hi Srividya,

Thank you so much for the compliments and constructive feedback.

Due apologies for the late reply.

Yes, I did sing on a song which was a Karoake version which had the vocals on the lower side like in the original.

I have purposely made some delayed and early starts sometimes to stretch the word sound and sometimes silence even at the end, trying to give my own touch and feel to the song.

I am so sorry if you didn’t like it.

Yes there was one place just before the last para where I made a late start which was wrong I know, I couldn’t listen to the beat and started a fraction of a second late.

I am very happy the you felt that my voice is divine. God has also blessed you with a divine voice. Did you check out my reply on your latest song….if not check it out….I have poured compliments on You and Tara for your divine rendition.

Thank you for taking your time to listen to my song.

Take Care divine soul,
Keep the faith always,
Peace be with you,
God Bless You and all your beloved souls….

Posted over 2 years ago

Neil Swanson (new pc..desktop.even dell did not work..pc is up running. look forward to posting and commenting . god bless neil said

HI RANJIT
This is a great version. and you did an excellent job….a couple of places u were
straing your voice on the high notes. but
that s understandable . themusic could bave
been a bit louder in the backing track.other
wise 5/5/ from me and favorite….god bless
my brother. let me know e mail what s going
on with the music…….we r workin on .may
god bless u this holiday season. ………….
NEIL SWANSON
Plese listen to my latest songs…like…
jAMBAYLA
Angels we have heard on high
Unchained Melody
Only Time
MovieMaker
ICantHelpfallinginlove
Angels Calling
OYE COMO VA
Phantom of the Opera

Without god in our lives all of this joy
of music would not b possible

For those who need help in karoke music
or mixing .i would b glad to help very
shortly i will have software that can re
move any vocals from any song for KAROKE
purposes

Posted over 2 years ago

Neil Swanson (new pc..desktop.even dell did not work..pc is up running. look forward to posting and commenting . god bless neil said

PS .this was my sons favorite song who died
of cancer at age 21 a few years back so
if u could dedicate this to my son KYLE
i would appreciate it .again god bless NEIL
NEIL SWANSON
Plese listen to my latest songs…like…
jAMBAYLA
Angels we have heard on high
Unchained Melody
Only Time
MovieMaker
ICantHelpfallinginlove
Angels Calling
OYE COMO VA
Phantom of the Opera