When is the last time you did absolutely nothing for 10 whole minutes? Not texting, talking or even thinking? Mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe describes the transformative power of doing just that: Refreshing your mind for 10 minutes a day, simply by being mindful and experiencing the present moment.
Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence – Madison Square Garden, NYC – 2009/10/29&30
Watch Simon and Garfunkel perform 44 years after the song was first released in 1965
Sound of Silence lyrics
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 turned 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 share
And 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
Songwriters: Paul Simon
The Sound of Silence lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
By Kori Morgan
Millions of music fans have been moved by Paul Simon’s lyrics since his career began in the 1960s. In particular, the 1966 Simon and Garfunkel hit “The Sound of Silence” has left an indelible mark on pop culture. Told from the perspective of a speaker who dreams of a more spiritually conscious world, the lyrics paint a disturbing picture of a society wrought with materialism and self-absorption. “The Sound of Silence” contains numerous poetic elements, including figurative language devices, rhyme scheme and tone.
Personification
In poetry, personification gives human characteristics to an object or idea. To emphasize the speaker’s isolation, Simon uses personification by having him speak directly to “darkness, my old friend.” The speaker desires to encourage people to find meaning in their lives beyond commercial culture, but no one will listen, except for the darkness he awakens to after dreaming of a chance to address them. The second line, “I’ve come to talk with you again,” tells readers that these nighttime conversations are habitual, further emphasizing the speaker’s status as an outcast.
Simile
A simile is a poetic device where the author describes something through a comparison, using the words “like” or “as.” In “The Sound of Silence,” the speaker uses a simile when he states that “silence like a cancer grows.” The people in his dream worship material culture at the expense of relationships with others, and the comparison of their silence to cancer emphasizes the destructiveness of this lifestyle. The speaker uses another simile when he says that although he pleads with them to listen, “my words like silent raindrops fell.” Like rain, his pleas fall quietly and unnoticed.
Rhyme
Rhyme is the use of similar sounds to create unity within a poem or song. In “The Sound of Silence,” Simon uses end rhyme, a type of rhyme that occurs when lines end with the same sound. For example, the first verse contains end rhyme through the words “friend” and “again,” “creeping” and “sleeping” and “brain” and “remains.” The final line of the verse ends with the word “silence,” but no corresponding rhyming line, creating a beat of actual silence in its absence.
Paradox
The University of California Stanislaus defines paradox as “an apparent contradiction that is nonetheless true.” It might seem impossible that the people in the song can be “talking without speaking” or “hearing without listening,” since on the surface, these words appear to be synonyms. However, Simon uses these paradoxes to imply that the people’s relationships and conversations are so superficial and limited that they fail to have any connection or deeper interaction. In this case, paradox makes us think about the level of alienation these subjects experience.
Tone
Tone is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject of a poem. In “The Sound of Silence,” the speaker feels he has an important message to deliver to the people entrenched in materialism, but they are too busy worshiping “the neon god” of culture to care. The speaker’s tone can therefore be described as solemn and disappointed. From the fact that only darkness will listen to his message to the people’s ultimate rejection, it is clear that he is saddened by the narrowness of their lives and that they are unable to look for something deeper.
