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 the people bowed and prayed 

To the neon god they made. 

"Fools" said I, "You do not know 

Silence like a cancer grows. 



And in the naked light I saw 

Ten thousand people, maybe more. 

People talking without speaking, 

People hearing without listening, 



And the sign flashed out its warning, 

In the words that it was forming. 

"The words of the prophets 

Are written on the subway walls 

And tenement halls." 

And whisper'd in the sounds 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."