[Verse 1]
Am                        G
Hello darkness, my old friend,
Am
I've come to talk with you again,
F       C
Because a vision softly creeping,
F       C
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
F                             C
And the vision that was planted in my brain
C/B  Am
Still remains
C           G        Am
Within the sound of silence.

[Verse 2]
G
In restless dreams I walked alone
Am
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
F        C
'neath the halo of a street lamp,
F        C
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
F                                        C
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
C/B  Am
That split the night
C              G        Am
And touched the sound of silence.

[Verse 3]
G
And in the naked light I saw
Am
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
F       C
People talking without speaking,
F        C
People hearing without listening,
F                       C
People writing songs that voices never share
C/B  Am
And no one dare
C           G        Am
Disturb the sound of silence.

[Verse 4]
G
Fools said I, you do not know
Am
Silence like a cancer grows.
F           C
Hear my words that I might teach you,
F           C
Take my arms that I might reach you.
F                           C   C/B Am
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
C
And echoed
G        Am
In the wells of silence

[Verse 5]
G
And the people bowed and prayed
Am
To the neon God they made.
F      C
And the sign flashed out its warning,
F     C
In the words that it was forming.
F
And the sign said, the words of the prophets
C
Are written on the subway walls
C     C/B Am
And tenement halls.
C           G         Am
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.