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 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