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 dare 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