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 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 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 its warning
 
 And 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