I used to go off in the bathroom, because the bathroom had tiles, so it was a slight echo chamber. I’d turn on the faucet so that water would run (I like that sound, it’s very soothing to me) and I’d play. In the dark. ‘Hello darkness, my old friend / I’ve come to talk with you again‘.
– Paul Simon
Like its title suggests, The Sound of Silence strips awareness down to its bare essence. It opens with a gentle, almost quaint guitar line and tiptoes forward as the narrator welcomes a deep connection with solitude and darkness. That quiet encounter plants seeds in his consciousness, which then sprout into a reflective journey – one that reveals a world numbed by indifference, injustice, and material excess.
Paul Simon wrote the song just three months after the assassination of President Kennedy, when he was only 21. It was released in early 1964. Following the tragedy, Simon (as he said above) locked himself in his family’s bathroom, searching for words in the silence.
The song has become so deeply woven into our cultural fabric that even the Catholic Church here in Colombia adapted its melody for a song called Padre Nuestro (Our Father) – much like they did with Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind, turning it into Saber Que Vendras (Know That You Will Come).
I think I first became aware of The Sound of Silence while watching the 1967 film The Graduate, a staple in our household. In fact, it’s hard for me to hear this legendary track without instantly thinking of that film.
Most of the following was condensed from the Wikipedia article below:
Simon & Garfunkel originally recorded an acoustic version for their debut album and received disappointing sales. An overdubbed electric version was released the next year, without S & G’s knowledge and went to No, 1 on the Billboard. Apart from The Graduate soundtrack album,The Sound of Silence was additionally released on the Mrs. Robinson EP in 1968, along with three other songs from the film: Mrs. Robinson, April Come She Will, and Scarborough Fair/Canticle. Interestingly, Bob Dylan drew upon arrangements by Martin Carthy – who introduced him to Scarborough Fair– and even retained a line from its refrain in his song Girl From The North Country: “Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine.”
Origin
Simon & Garfunkel billed themselves “Kane & Garr”, after old recording pseudonyms, and signed up for Gerde’s Folk City, a Greenwich Village club that hosted Monday night performances. In September 1963, the duo’s performances caught the attention of Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson, a young African-American musician and producer who would later help guide Bob Dylan’s transition from folk to rock. Simon convinced Wilson to let him and his partner have a studio audition; their performance of The Sound of Silence got the duo signed to Columbia.
[Verse 1]
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
[Verse 2]
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
[Verse 3]
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 sound of silence
[Verse 4]
“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
[Verse 5]
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”
References:
1. The Sound of Silence – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Matt I would place this on my top songs of all time. It’s never a bad time for it. Simon is a hell of a songwriter and he had 3 decades of great songs.
When I came to Colombia and heard this melody played in the church, it blew my mind. I can of course see why you rate it so highly. And Simon wrote it so young. It reminds me I need to dust off the Graduate movie. It’s been a while.
Unfortunately I don’t know much of Simon’s output apart from what he did with Garfunkel. I like ‘You can call me Al’ a lot. Also Garfunkel’s ‘Bright Eyes’ was fantastic, but that was written by Mike Batt.
His early seventies output had some special songs. Mother and Child Reunion, Kodachrome, etc…other than the Simon and G era…the early seventies was my favorite period for him.
I’ll check them out. It’s likely I might have heard of them. Thanks Max.
I’m pretty sure you have.
I hadn’t actually. Pretty good.
every time this song comes on I feel shiver up and down my spine…
I like their live Central Park performance below, when Simon opens with the gentle guitar and the crowd’s unfettered reaction:
really nice, I absolutely agree
I’ve loved “The Sound of Silence” for many moons and first heard it on Simon & Garfunkel’s 1972 greatest hits compilation. This goes all the way back to the beginning of my music journey and vinyls my older sister had at the time. Later after I had picked up the acoustic guitar, I got a songbook for that album. I think it might still be floating around somewhere.
I remember you mentioning the impact of your sister’s records on your early musical tastes. The greatest hits songbook would have been neat for a young guitar enthusiast.
Thanks, Matt, I know I keep repeating my dear sister. Even though she was in her young teenager years, i.e., a “challenging” life period, and I was only 7 or 8, we were really close. She would even let me in on certain secrets when it came to her boyfriends. I’m happy to report we still have a pretty close relationship.
And, yes, that Simon & Garfunkel songbook is great for guitarist once you’ve learned some basic major and minor chords. Now, Paul Simon’s finger-picking is different story. My guitar teacher showed me “The Boxer.” That took a while to reasonably master.
Yes, I’m seeing my son go through his mid-teenage years and they have been challenging to say the least.
How touching to read how close you were and remain with your sister.
I used to buy beginner guitar books and even took lessons from a classical guitar teacher. I think I wore out her patience – I know I did mine. The best I ever got was being able to replicate Dylan’s playing on his criminally underrated instrumental ‘The main title theme’ (Pat Garrett..). Like you with the Boxer that took a long time (perhaps months) to pick up.
I was 4 when this song was released & I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love it. Like the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel are an essential part of the soundtrack of my childhood.
You know that Neil Peart was also a fan ~ he took “the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls/& tenement halls/& echo with the sounds of silence” & turned it into “the words of the profits are written on the studio walls/concert hall/ & echo with the sounds of salesmen/salesmen/salesmen”
I’m not as big a fan of it now because of commercial saturation and hearing the melody in church, but like you it remains part of my ‘coming of age’ as well as the movie. They kind of go hand in hand for me.
I’m afraid I’ve never heard of Neil Peart.
Neil Peart was the drummer/lyricist for the band Rush. He died of brain cancer in 2020. Like many older Deadheads, I’m a big Rush fan; I’ve seen them in concert a BUNCH of times.
He also wrote books & was an avid biker/motorcyclist. He has been ranked 4th of the best drummers of all time.
Thanks for the heads-up Polly.