The sound of silence

[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