This song is how people are oppressed and can't speak freely. It also connotates that a vision came to simon in a dream....
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 walk 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 signs said, 'The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.
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 walk 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 signs said, 'The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.
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What attracted mine attention is ending of the song, in fact an unsetting one. Though it is rather loose, a reference to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… can be heard there. In this way the song gains more meaning. It treates on how people tend to value convenience and grandeur of civilized development (neon lights, neon god) more than their company. Such hubris make communication difficult and a community in general weaker. It becomes in itself the source of downfall of what people used to praise. Like in the story, even after receiving warnings about this condition people omit them becuase of being too concentrated on insignificant matters. The song has an open ending - there is no judgement there - only an observation and suggestion of things to come:
"And the signs said, 'The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence"
The meaning of the lyrics is about darkness, representing ignorance,
silence representing people are not allowed to express their opinion.
"people talking without speaking" meaning they just talk, without any meaning...
"people hearing without listening" people hearing but do not understand.
"When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of neon light" is advertising and advertising equals money. Therefore, he is talking about wealth.
"and people bowed and prayed, To the neon god they made" worshiping money and wealth, and wealth become the prophet even in the subway walls where advertising is shown.
Hello darkness my old friend.. we are living in a shallow world in darkness, enslaved by wealth.
I think this words , are depicting the idea of a man who's having a hard time , like if he were slowly sinking into deep water of depresion, he's wondering about the aim of life.
The first stanza would mean the man is starting to ask himself because he's having a tough time , he's having a a "vision" of the aim of life.
In the second stanza , he's just explaining how he found it out , by using the metaphorical device of his wandering in the street, as if first he didn't figure out the solution , but he was attracted by a light , a light which showed him the truth.
In the third Stanza , the word "naked" would mean pure. Therefore into this pure light , he'd seen bad habbits of people , "People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening" The word is rotten by the carelessness of people for each other and there's no rise of new ideas , of strong thoughts as in the past.
The fourth stanza would be the man advice that he want to tell the word , but no one want to listen him and people are still submiting themself to the "sound of silence"
The fifth stanza would mean that religion is the worst thing ever as Voltaire said " Ce n'est pas Dieu qui a créé l'homme, mais l'homme qui a créé Dieu." ( this ain't god who created humankind but humankind who created god). Religion would be the thing which make people being slave , slave of "the sound of silence".
To conclude , I personally think that "the sound of silence" is just a way to denounce the lack of culture which is compelling people , as of they were emprisonned into it. The man would understood it and wanted to help people to get out of this fog , but no one is listening , because this thing which make us being slave is stronger than the voice author.
The word " silence" is repeated 6 times , and mostly to the end of the stanza to show the powerlessness of the man in front of this "silence growing"
We can imagine that the man in the end of the song will keep being alone until someone also find the truth.
( My interpretation also including the rythm of this music , wich is slow sad , and it's going crescendo to show that the man want to be heard by people under the fog. It's sad because the man is lonely , his only friend is the darkness and that's why he want to help people , otherwise he will be alone for the rest of his life. The song moral philosphy would be " Human being can't be alone" and "When we are the only one who saw the truth that people cannot understand , we're the loneliest person more than ever.)
-sorry for my english-
I like in the end when it says 'The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls'
It makes me think of how the true heart of this country and world can be found in the working class and impoverished neighborhoods. Many people look at the celebrities on TV for inspiration, but true knowledge and wisbom comes from those who need to fight everyday for survival.
"When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence"- Here where we're situated surrounded by darkness, silence, interrupted by a flash of "light", and I emphasize this because in the next stanza the this "light" is referred to as the common culture doing nothing -"People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening"- and that no one dares to change it.
In the last stanza , the reference to religious figures is used as a metaphor, saying that the people embrace that tendency that they created.