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 streetlamp 
 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 whisper'd in the sounds of silence