Gm F Hello darkness, my old friend,

GmI'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 GmStill remains

A# F GmWithin the sound of silence.

FIn restless dreams I walked alone

GmNarrow 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 GmThat split the night

A# F GmAnd touched the sound of silence.

FAnd in the naked light I saw

GmTen 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 GmAnd no one dare

A# F GmDisturb the sound of silence.

FFools said I, you do not know

GmSilence 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 GmBut my words like silent raindrops fell,

A#And echoed

F GmIn the wells of silence

FAnd the people bowed and prayed

GmTo 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 GmAnd tenement halls.

A# F GmAnd whisper'd in the sounds of silence.