[Verse 1]
Fm D#
Hello darkness, my old friend,
Fm
I've come to talk with you again,
C# G#
Because a vision softly creeping,
C# G#
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
C# G#
And the vision that was planted in my brain
G#/G Fm
Still remains
G# D# Fm
Within the sound of silence.
[Verse 2]
D#
In restless dreams I walked alone
Fm
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
C# G#
'neath the halo of a street lamp,
C# G#
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
C# G#
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
G#/G Fm
That split the night
G# D# Fm
And touched the sound of silence.
[Verse 3]
D#
And in the naked light I saw
Fm
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
C# G#
People talking without speaking,
C# G#
People hearing without listening,
C# G#
People writing songs that voices never share
G#/G Fm
And no one dare
G# D# Fm
Disturb the sound of silence.
[Verse 4]
D#
Fools said I, you do not know
Fm
Silence like a cancer grows.
C# G#
Hear my words that I might teach you,
C# G#
Take my arms that I might reach you.
C# G# G#/G Fm
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
G#
And echoed
D# Fm
In the wells of silence
[Verse 5]
D#
And the people bowed and prayed
Fm
To the neon God they made.
C# G#
And the sign flashed out its warning,
C# G#
In the words that it was forming.
C#
And the sign said, the words of the prophets
G#
Are written on the subway walls
G# G#/G Fm
And tenement halls.
G# D# Fm
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.