Thursday, March 13, 2008

But My Words Like Silent Raindrops Fell

I’ve been feeling kind of blah this week, so there is not much to report.

This song has been in my head all day. It fits my mood. Thing is, it’s a beautiful song – I utterly adore Simon and Garfunkel – so there are worse things that could be hanging around my brain. I can imagine the delicate guitar strumming and then the first set of lyrics coming in: “Hello darkness, my old friend . . .”

There are some songs that are just plain peaceful and put one in a mellower, if melancholy, place. This is one of them for me . . .

The Sound of Silence
P. Simon (1964)

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 turn 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 shared
No one dared
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
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 sound of silence

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a hauntingly beautiful song. I heard Paul Somon say in an interview that he wrote it when he was very young, but he is still pleased with it.

Virginia Gal said...

oh man now I'm going to have to youtube that song - beautiful lyrics.