Hello darkness, my old friend,
 [bad word] 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 in the naked light I saw
 Ten thousand people, maybe more.
 People talking without speaking,
 People hearing without listening,
 People writing songs that voices never share 
 And no one dared 
 Disturb the sound 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 out you."
 But my words like silent raindrops fell,
 And echoed
 In the wells of silence.

 And the people bowed and prayed 
 To the neon god they made.
 And the sign flashed out its warning,
 In the words that it was forming.
 And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
 And tenement halls. 
 And whisper'd in the sounds of silence."