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