The Sound of Silence (Original Version from 1964)

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    G4/B Am G4/B C
Still remains
C           G        Am
Within the sound of silence

Am                            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    G4/B Am G4/B C
That split the night
C                G        Am
And touched the sound of silence

Am                        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   G4/B Am G4/B C
And no one dared
C            G        Am
Disturb the sound of silence

Am                            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
But my words like silent raindrops fell
Am  C                  G          Am
    And echoed in the wells of silence

Am                         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                                               C
And the sign said "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
              C    G4/B Am G4/B
And tenement halls"
      C               G         Am
And whispered in the sounds of silence