This is an amazing song, here is my attempt to interpret it.
Song: Sound of Silence
Band: Simon & Garfunkel
Trivia: The song was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" in 2013 along with the rest of the Sounds of Silence album.
Interpretation:
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
The character in this song has had a nightmare of sorts which has dampened his day & mood and he is returning to a familiar but dark place in his mind , where he has been before.
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
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
He goes ahead to describe the dream, where he is alone in his path and thinking with no one to share feeling and he is sensing that something cold is sneaking up on him - no matter how hard he tries to do away with it.
He is struck by a false propaganda, where he sees many people that have given into it.
People there are not giving a thought before they speak, its like they have been handed out scripts and blindly following.
People are listening but they no longer care about what they have heard. (Kind off like every sad news story today)
People are glorifying the propaganda with fake and false facts and pretenses and no one dared to question why .
"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 sounds of silence
The author makes an attempt to make the people understand that the light they see is just made out of neon \ false. That there is an true light. He also gives a call to stop the silence by not being complicit in everything that has been handed over by the neon god (false propaganda) but the call fell in a well of silence there by echoing the depths and reaching the high places of power. Who respond in a Herculean way, stating that the words\promises\hope will never see the light of day, they will die and rot just like all of us.
There are 2 ways to look at this song to understand the meaning.
1. Living under an oppressive regime where everything served to you is fabricated, false and censored.(Sort of like the current times.)
2. Lack of communication between humans.
Also read about Plato's cave \ Allegory of the cave, the song treads on similar lines.
Favorite Cover: Disturbed
Band: Simon & Garfunkel
Trivia: The song was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" in 2013 along with the rest of the Sounds of Silence album.
Interpretation:
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
The character in this song has had a nightmare of sorts which has dampened his day & mood and he is returning to a familiar but dark place in his mind , where he has been before.
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
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
He goes ahead to describe the dream, where he is alone in his path and thinking with no one to share feeling and he is sensing that something cold is sneaking up on him - no matter how hard he tries to do away with it.
He is struck by a false propaganda, where he sees many people that have given into it.
People there are not giving a thought before they speak, its like they have been handed out scripts and blindly following.
People are listening but they no longer care about what they have heard. (Kind off like every sad news story today)
People are glorifying the propaganda with fake and false facts and pretenses and no one dared to question why .
"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 sounds of silence
The author makes an attempt to make the people understand that the light they see is just made out of neon \ false. That there is an true light. He also gives a call to stop the silence by not being complicit in everything that has been handed over by the neon god (false propaganda) but the call fell in a well of silence there by echoing the depths and reaching the high places of power. Who respond in a Herculean way, stating that the words\promises\hope will never see the light of day, they will die and rot just like all of us.
There are 2 ways to look at this song to understand the meaning.
1. Living under an oppressive regime where everything served to you is fabricated, false and censored.(Sort of like the current times.)
2. Lack of communication between humans.
Also read about Plato's cave \ Allegory of the cave, the song treads on similar lines.
Favorite Cover: Disturbed
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