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