A#m G# Hello darkness, my old friend,

A#mI've come to talk with you again,

F# C#Because a vision softly creeping,

F# C#Left its seeds while I was sleeping,

F# C#And the vision that was planted in my brain

C#/C A#mStill remains

C# G# A#mWithin the sound of silence.

G#In restless dreams I walked alone

A#mNarrow streets of cobblestone,

F# C#'neath the halo of a street lamp,

F# C#I turned my collar to the cold and damp

F# C#When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light

C#/C A#mThat split the night

C# G# A#mAnd touched the sound of silence.

G#And in the naked light I saw

A#mTen thousand people, maybe more.

F# C#People talking without speaking,

F# C#People hearing without listening,

F# C#People writing songs that voices never share

C#/C A#mAnd no one dare

C# G# A#mDisturb the sound of silence.

G#Fools said I, you do not know

A#mSilence like a cancer grows.

F# C#Hear my words that I might teach you,

F# C#Take my arms that I might reach you.

F# C# C#/C A#mBut my words like silent raindrops fell,

C#And echoed

G# A#mIn the wells of silence

G#And the people bowed and prayed

A#mTo the neon God they made.

F# C#And the sign flashed out its warning,

F# C#In the words that it was forming.

F#And the sign said, the words of the prophets

C#Are written on the subway walls

C# C#/C A#mAnd tenement halls.

C# G# A#mAnd whisper'd in the sounds of silence.