The Sound Of Silence
Hello darkness, my old friend. It started way back in 1964 when it was penned. It remains such an awesome song to this age and time performed by probably the greatest duo Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Today, if I walked into a pub which is deem inside I may see some friends or even if alone, you can hear me singing "Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again".
If you carefully scan through the song lyrics you will find it almost poetic. You can interpret it differently or even abstractly. Before we start, let us enjoy an original version of this beautiful song:
Some times, a great song with great lyrics started out innocently but people would interpret it in their own ways. For example, the Beatles's Let It Be wasn't religious about Mother Mary. What then was Paul Simon thinking or dreaming when he wrote The Sound Of Silence? And what kind of man could sing like Art Garfunkel? What beautiful melodies. I want you to take a peek and follow the lyrics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvsX03LOMhI (With Lyrics)
Was the song about communication? Or about someone who thought he was God? Or a dream or vision? Here is my interpretation:
"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." - Darkness represents a lack of light therefore, clarity. It was difficult to see or understand. Coming to talk with you again meant a repeated engagement. A vision was given and crept in while he was asleep but a seed was planted.
"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." - Poetic and lyrical genius here. How many of you had restless dreams before and often find yourself alone in dreams. Well, the fact is that all your life you are alone. You just didn't realise it. You were born alone and shall leave this world alone. Cobblestone streets are lovely and his description brings us there 'beneath the halo of a street lamp' and the collar was turned due to the cold and damp. Have you ever experience your eyes being stabbed by a flash of neon light? He was waxing lyrical.
"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." - Ten thousand people referred to a lot of people. Talking without speaking is about conversation and hearing without listening is the more important part of communication. Talk can be gibberish or talk can be cheap but what are you speaking? You can hear noises or words with your ears but you listen with you heart. People wrote songs that voices never shared referred to people remembering things or recording them but never shared because they were tired? Oh, may be they dared not to talk about it for fear of disturbing the silence. You can interpret this as fear of disturbing the status quo, upsetting the leaders or management.
""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." - We are all fools if we do not know. Keeping quiet emboldens the wrong doers. This is why the world may have advanced in many areas but in human behaviour and dealings, everywhere people are doing all the wrong things and it continues to grow like a cancer albeit quietly. I wish to teach you, to show you, to give you some truths and to reach out to you but alas, these words of mine fell on deaf ears just like silent raindrops which create empty echoes 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." - Sometimes we talk about ignorance and we say ignorance is bliss. The more ignorant you are the more you won't know much and you are a happier person for it. Ignorance can actually taint the minds of people. Make that many people. Silence refers to giving up speaking or total surrender and submission. Now do not think that or equate submissive people to be non-aggressive or vice versa.
Look around you, today's people are largely submissive without knowing. Are you one of them? How many people today foolishly follow rulers, leaders or other people just because at the moment they seem to have the power to dish out goodies? Very often, they do not even know such a persons' background, history or true intentions. While it is good to be obedient but should you heed commands without knowing the consequence of such blind obedience? "Go forth and kill some innocent people as I or God commanded". Herd feeling and following? Why do people not have an independent mind? When you doubt a person's character, just give him power. The test of real character is to see how a person treat those who has lesser power.
Regardless of whether you are a nation, an organisation, a family or any group of people, it is foolish to submit yourself too freely. Be respectful - yes. "People bowed and prayed to the neon God they made". This is poignant and powerful. It is telling us not to go in blindly in whatever stuffs. People will worship a neon God they made like a person, money, fame, glamour. Do you realise the possible outcomes at the end when people worship neon Gods? They made them out to be their gods and chased after and worship them.
"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls" - does this not explain that the real prophets who know and know what will happen in future are in the midst of the subways and tenement halls depicting graffitti literature as people's angst or expression. This is the real happening the real life but some people do not have a voice! The people who knew the truth in a country or an organisation are those below. If you have never walked on the pavement how will you know there is a crack? In X Files lingo, the truth is out there. Yes, the stark truth. When you walk the ground you see everything in truth. All the problems and its inherent solutions are right under our noses if we are not arrogant, obnoxious and selfish and if we do not create all kinds of elaborate gods to worship and idolise or we will be barking up the wrong tree such as putting ourselves up for worship and false adoration.
Some group of people maybe young, maybe old, maybe children maybe women and maybe in a certain country or company are simply marginalised and lacking a voice. The sound of silence can be deafening because when it is too quiet not only can you hear a pin drop, your ears will ring. Take this song with you with Simon and Garfunkel in their current age a few years ago and understand what music and lyrics should be like. Let the music flow and listen to the lyrics' poetic moments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-JQ1q-13Ek (Aged 68)
Meantime, I'll zip up and shut up. Psst! Silence.
Comments