The "Sounds of Silence" and the Disconnection of Communication

The "Sounds of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel began as a complete failure but after a brief editing session, their signature mellifluous harmonies soon escalated into one of the greatest songs of all time, pioneering the duet scene and rising quickly to the top of the charts. The "Sounds of Silence" delivers a potent message which enriches the poetic elements of the song: people do not communicate and often submit themselves to a greater presence without much thought. This poetic rendition of the Simon and Garfunkel experience illustrates many attributes which lead to a success in the music industry. Paul Simon, the orchestrator of this song, uses apostrophe in the two opening lines addressing "darkness, [his] old friend" directly. Simon and Garfunkel's use of apostrophe delivers a cathartic or melancholic mood; the use of apostrophe reveals the speaker's emotional tensions to an inanimate object in a forlorn and forgotten way, almost reminiscent of the past. Simon and Garfunkel also use the effect of oxymorons to bring out the meaning in the song. The title, "Sounds of Silence", includes an oxymoron which adds to the melancholic mood and the central theme of the song: through increased attempts to communicate – perhaps through the use of technology in the form of texting and social networking, and in Simon and Garfunkel's time, the onset of the television – people become more disconnected. Paul Simon recognized this lack of communication back in the 1960's with the onset of censorship in the USSR and the cold war, and it still applies today. The reference to "the neon god they made" provides a strong allusion to the creation of the television which enriches the lack of communication. In accordance with the song’s melancholic mood, Paul Simon uses personification to illustrate an imminent overtaking of technology. “When [the speaker’s] eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light”, Simon describes the bright light from the television and flashing signs, both of which belittle the petty relationships that keeps society from conforming to the television and technology, giving up the communication one strives for. Similes and various analogies are also used to emphasize the sombre mood that develops throughout the song. The speaker compares his words to “silent raindrops... [that] [echo] / [i]n the wells of silence”. The speaker’s voice cannot be heard as all other members of the population are busy immersed in technology, more specifically the newly designed television. Lastly, the speaker states that “‘[t]he words of the prophets are written on the subway walls’” and alludes to a place where the simple past is still functioning. The subway walls symbolize the past and people who cannot afford the new technology and are still communicating their emotions as everyone once did. In a sense, the most advanced members of society are people that are not confined by new advances in technology; they are the people with the most knowledge. Simon and Garfunkel’s classic hit delivered a powerful message with the aid of many poetic devices and will be considered perpetually by all future generations.

Lyrics
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come 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 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 whispered in the sounds of silence