C#m B Hello darkness, my old friend,

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

A EBecause a vision softly creeping,

A ELeft its seeds while I was sleeping,

A EAnd the vision that was planted in my brain

E/D# C#mStill remains

E B C#mWithin the sound of silence.

BIn restless dreams I walked alone

C#mNarrow streets of cobblestone,

A E'neath the halo of a street lamp,

A EI turned my collar to the cold and damp

A EWhen my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light

E/D# C#mThat split the night

E B C#mAnd touched the sound of silence.

BAnd in the naked light I saw

C#mTen thousand people, maybe more.

A EPeople talking without speaking,

A EPeople hearing without listening,

A EPeople writing songs that voices never share

E/D# C#mAnd no one dare

E B C#mDisturb the sound of silence.

BFools said I, you do not know

C#mSilence like a cancer grows.

A EHear my words that I might teach you,

A ETake my arms that I might reach you.

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

EAnd echoed

B C#mIn the wells of silence

BAnd the people bowed and prayed

C#mTo the neon God they made.

A EAnd the sign flashed out its warning,

A EIn the words that it was forming.

AAnd the sign said, the words of the prophets

EAre written on the subway walls

E E/D# C#mAnd tenement halls.

E B C#mAnd whisper'd in the sounds of silence.