Am G
Hello darkness my old friend,
Am
I’ve come to talk with you again.
C F C
Because a vision softly --- creeping
F C
Left it’s seed while I was --- sleeping,
F C
And the vision --- that was planted --- in my brain
Am
Still remains
C G Am
Within the sounds of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone,
Narrow streets of cobble stone.
‘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 sounds 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,
And no one dared
Disturb the sounds 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 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 gods they made.
And the sign flashed 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.