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 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 whispered 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."