Hello, darkness my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left it's seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains within the sound of silence
In restless dream I walked alone the narrow street of cobble stone Beneath 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 may be 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 it's warning In the words that it was forming, and the signs said
"The words of the prophets Are written on the subway walls and tenement halls And whispered in the sound of silence"