Simon & Garfunkel: The Sound of Silence Meaning

Song Released: 1965

Covered By: Bananarama (2009), Disturbed (2015)

The 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...

1. anonymous

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   Jun 4th 2011 !⃝

   I think the interpretation of looking at it from a society standpoint is correct but how I interpreted it is also from a songwriting standpoint. People talking without speaking people hearing without listning people writing songs that voices never shared. To that means people write lyrics but they don't mean anything and voices never shared because they are just writing them for the sake of writing songs, they don't truely mean anything. The speaker tries to enlighten these 'fools', but they simply ignore him turning their attention to this fake neon god with no substance. The neon god agrees and points where to look, but none of them pay any attention, and without substance, there might as well be the sound of silence.
   I inerpret it this way and it could very well be Paul Simon forshadowing the lack of meaning in music today, which we all know certainly applies. Anyways that is what I think let me know what you do!
2. anonymous

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   Feb 22nd 2011 !⃝

   This song criticizes the increasing materialistic tendency and modern people's blind faith in 'neon god'. Here, neon god stands for the commercial advertisements flashed with neon lights. Pramod subedi, nepal
3. anonymous

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   Oct 16th 2010 !⃝

   I think the neon light is a literal neon light, and the gods are the pop culture icons. The "talking without speaking" and "hearing without listening" seems to be like most pointless talk these days. He tries to stop the mindless advance of culture, but those who go against the flow are few and far between, so his words aren't listened to. This is my humble opinion, don't flame me.
4. anonymous

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   Feb 26th 2010 !⃝

   Heroin: if you know this drug have used it, thats what it's about.
5. anonymous

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   Feb 14th 2010 !⃝

   The song is about his wifes breakdown. She is trapped in silence and darkness where he cannot reach her. He is describing how he thinks she feels trapped in her own mind
6. anonymous

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   May 21st 2009 !⃝

   I don't see the song in anyway as being drug related but rather lonliness and being open and real. Jesus and his cousin John the Baptist for example spoke directly from the heart with everyone and played no mind games. Can you Imagine being in a room with a wild bunch of people who are competitive,two faced,business minded,sports minded, earthly people and then you or I who they know comes in and says hey your all gods creations and hang in there because god loves you and the sun will shine. I don't care what your status is in this life because I love you anyways. They would all think your nuts and feel embarrassed for you but deep down we need this kind of talk and when your alone with little or no sound you become deep in thought and not fake.
7. m320753

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   Oct 23rd 2008 !⃝

   The sound of silence; did you ever want to be left alone for a while to clear your and as you sit in your dark room or in your yard looking at the moon, your mind seems to relax every time you do such things so yeah Hello darkness my old friend I've come to talk with you again. Sounds almost like the beginning of self counseling or therapy?the rest of this classic song is probably what he was almost dreaming about as he was sitting there enjoying the silence. The verses may be memories he is thinking about or maybe encounters he has had and in a moment of self examination he tells himself that he while being a great writer the real signs ofmusical genious is written on the wall of the subways by graffiti artists
8. bonincf

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   Oct 16th 2008 !⃝

   I believe that this song was written in the 60's and was about the times then when a person, man or woman was lonely that needed and wanted a friend to talk to other than to just talk in general, to deeply talk and discuss personal things that might be troubling them without having to go to see a shrink. I'm not referring to a gay person seeking a mate, just another straight person to talk to. But back then you could be in a shopping mall of 10 thousand people or more, people talking but not speaking, hearing but not listening, and if you were a stranger and went up to just one person or group of people and tried to talked other then general, you would be given the cold shoulder and be told to leave. Today is worse.
9. mensoelrey

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   Oct 2nd 2008 !⃝

   You are kind of right but missing one big thing. The society Simon envisions is a dictatorship. Not Hitler's dictatorship exactly; more just any dictatorship. And a dictatorship silences the people but really it is the people who have silenced themselves by communicating less and less. There are still prophets, but no one will listen to them so they write their words on subway walls and tenement halls, where, perhaps, future generations will read them and act. But until then, the people will bow and pray to their pointless gods and not listen because it is pointless.
10. anonymous

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    May 16th 2008 !⃝

    Prefer the nuclear holocaust interpretation, myself. Seemed pretty clear, even the first time I heard it. A lack of communication, perhaps, but with consequences more dire than the usual S&G lyrics.
    
    ...words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls/ surely referring to the apocalptic predictions spelled out in graffiti.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
11. anonymous

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    Feb 22nd 2008 !⃝

    "A societal view of the lack of communication."
    
    -Paul Simon on this song
12. anonymous

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    Jan 18th 2008 !⃝

    The best interpretation of this song I have ever come to the conclusion of was one of a atomic bomb. The bomb of course being the "neon light" referred to in the song. What's most interesting is later on when it speaks of how "the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made". The cold war and even today, we revere it as the strongest form of arsenal a country can possess. A simple explanation...but still carrying the depth of sages
13. anonymous

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    Dec 31st 2007 !⃝

    I heard the whole idea for this song came from a dream that Paul simon had. In the dream he claimed that he could see hundreds of people talking but could not hear what they were saying.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
14. anonymous

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    Aug 14th 2007 !⃝

    Well, first of all this song is definitely about lack of communication between mankind. I think he calls darkness as "old friend" referring to the beginning of humanity when there was darkness and it all started with light (Bible). So this means that mankind destroying itself, maybe not physically but spiritually.
15. AlfreRH

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    Aug 8th 2007 !⃝

    This song is talking about the movie, the graduate, in witch he talks with mrs Robinson in the darkness, that is one of the parts, of it the others I really don´t get them.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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