Justin Brown
Professor Frank
English 101
10/31/14
P. Simon, 1964 “Sound of Silence”
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 turn 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 shared
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 sound of silence
The lyrics of this song put you in a dark atmosphere and keeps you there. You can very easily see what the writer is intending, but throughout the song, there are other things that become obvious other meanings for the song. He could be in depression. He could be drinking. He could just be watching society’s ignorance. This song has a lot of potential meanings and they could all be true.
One thing that I think this song is about is depression. The song starts out with “Hello darkness, my old friend” (1) implying that he has been in this state of mind before. He has seen the “darkness” before and he is welcoming it. (Fill in more Ideas) Another thing that could be taken out of this song is that he could be having a drinking problem. When the writer says “Hello darkness, my old friend” (1) I don’t just think of depression, I also think of the alcohol that he is probably using for his problem. He goes
