[Am]Hello darkness, my old [G]friend
I’ve come to talk with you [Am]again
Because a vision soft [F]ly cree-ping [C]
Left its seeds while I [F]was sleeping [C]
And the [F]vision that was planted in my [C]brain
Still re- [Am]mains within the [G]sound of [Am]silence
In restless dreams I walked [G]alone
Narrow streets of cobble [Am]stone
‘Neath the halo of [F]a street lamp [C]
I turned my collar to the [F]cold and damp [C]
When my [F]eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon [C]light
That split the [Am]night and touched the [G]sound of [Am]silence
And in the naked light I [G]saw
Ten thousand people, maybe [Am]more
People talking with- [F]out speaking [C]
People hearing with- [F]out listening [C]
People writing [F]songs that voices never [C]share
And no one [Am]dared disturb the [G]sound of [Am]silence
“Fools”, said I, “You do not [G]know
Silence like a cancer [Am]grows
Hear my words that I [F]might teach you [C]
Take my arms that I [F]might reach you” [C]
But my [F]words, like silent raindrops [C]fell
And [Am]echoed in the [G]wells of [Am]silence
And the people bowed and [G]prayed
To the neon god they [Am]made
And the sign flashed out [F]its warning [C]
In the words that it [F]was forming [C]
And the sign said, “The [F]words of the prophets are written on the subway [C]walls
And tenement [Am]halls” and whispered in the [G]sounds of [Am]silence