The Sound of Silence
A song written and released in the year 1964 by Simon and Garfunkel predicted our present future. Peak through this article as it unveils the secret messages and meaning of the song.
What fascinated me about this song and its lyrics is the fact that it was written by Paul Simon in the year 1964. To add, the messages and meaning that can be drawn from it. It is more of a prediction or vision of a future than a story to me.
…we have people unable to touch other people, unable to love other people. This is a song about the inability to communicate.
–Paul Simon
To the writer, as seen in the above quote, the song is about the inability to communicate. But, the more I examine the lyrics and listen to the song (the different versions), I make a different meaning in this age. I assume the writer never envisaged this song would make deeper meaning in the future.
[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 share
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.”
The Secret Messages or Meaning of this Song
- A mix of Darkness and Light. Started with darkness and ended with light’s unfolding messages — information, revelation, enlightenment, knowledge or illumination.
- It’s someone conveying his experience at a point in time. He went back to bed to sleep which of course, was during the night. Going back to bed to sleep at night is a form of silent communication, building vision in the brain. He was sharing what he saw in the dreams he had while he was asleep.
- Verse-2 is very descriptive of a location in the dreams: Narrow streets of cobblestone, street lamp, cold and damp. Neon light which is usually used for advertisement on streets, to illuminate information to passersby. As we know it, neon lights convey information to passersby without making a sound — which caught the attention of the dreamer.
- Verse-3 presents two possible ideas:
i.) Prediction of a technology age (which we currently experience), where people hardly speak to each other. Instead, are always on the phone or mobile device. I see this happen every day while on the train, airport, streets, train station, bus, even at home, etc. This really raises concerns and the dreamer/writer was disturbed at this sight.
ii.) This Verse presented three categories of people he saw: people talking without listening; people hearing without listening; and people writing songs that voices never share. No one dared to raise a voice about the situation as they are all engulfed into something. As people have become mute, there were no more voices to sing songs that were written. Something strange caused silence in this era seen in his dream.
5. In Verse 4, he tried to warn the people of what was happening to them and the dangers silence poses. He tried to raise his voice and to reach out to them to draw their attention to the situation but it never made any difference. No one listened. No one cared.
6. Verse 5 points to how people idolize technology, which we currently see in this age. This equally presents several clues to unravel a deeper message:
i. “the sign flashed out its warning” — definitely from the neon lights because neon lights display signs as well as adverts
ii. “in the words that it was forming” — of course, the signs communicate in diverse ways to an observer.
iii. “the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls” — What words of the prophets are written there? Which prophets was it referring to?
This is a hint that was whispered to the dreamer which I assumed to be a prophecy of something that would happen to humanity (to us). The situation depicted here as ‘sound of silence’ (as illustrated in #4), is already happening. It is an alert to an imminent danger that has been predicted in the past by people (prophets) who had a revelation of it.
7. The term “neon” was used in two different contexts:
i. “The flash of a neon light” — describing the usual lights (made from neon gas) that are often used for advertisement on streets.
ii. “To the neon god they made” — meaning new god. Neon is a Greek word that means ‘new’. It represents the technology we have become obsessed with or addicted to — our mobile devices.
8. Each verse ended in a unique way:
v1- “…within the sound of silence”
v2- “…and touched the sound of silence”
v3- “…disturb the sound of silence”
v4- “…and echoed in the wells of silence”
v1- “…and whispered in the sound of silence”
This song specifically described a location with the following features:
- Narrow streets of cobblestone having halo (round) street lamps or a circle of light from a street lamp
- The temperature of the place: cold and damp
- Neon light
- Crowded street — possibly part of a city center
- Subway walls and tenement halls — walls of underground tunnels or roads for pedestrians; building halls with demarcs for multiple tenants.
The location is a well-developed city. But the presence of tenement halls indicates a poor section of a large city.
Links to different Versions of the Song, “The Sound of Silence”
- The original version by Simon and Garfunkel in 1964
- The sound of silence by Touch of Class with Ruhan du Toit and Deon van der Merwe
- The sound of silence by Pentatonix
- The sound of silence by Disturbed
