Hello friends, here I am writing this blog on write my views on any Transcendentalist movie, poem, song or novel. So, I am writing on a Transcendental song, 'The Sound of Science' by Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel.
'The Sound of Silence' by Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits-including 'The Sound of Silence'(1965), 'Mrs. Robinson' (1968), 'The Boxer'(1969), and 'Bridge over Troubled Water (1970).
Simon and Garfunkel met in elementary school in Queens, New York, in 1953, where they learned to harmonize and began writing songs. In June 1965, a new version of 'The Sound of Silence' overdubbed with electric guitar and drums became a US AM radio hit.
Simon and Garfunkel had a troubled relationship, leading to artistic disagreements and their breakup in 1970. Their final studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water, was released that January, becoming one of the world's best-selling albums. After their breakup, Simon released a number of acclaimed albums, including 1986's Graceland. Garfunkel released solo hits such as 'All I Know' and briefly pursued an acting career, with leading roles in the Mike Nichols films Catch-22. The duo have reunited several times; their 1981 concert in Central Park attracted more than 500,000 people, one of the largest concert attendances in history.
Simon & Garfunkel won 10 Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. They are among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 100 million records.
'The sound of silence'
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
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"
∆ Analysis of the song :
The speaker woke up in the dark night and wanted to tell somebody about his dream. He addressed the darkness as his old friend and started to describe it as he had done before. He said that when he was sleeping a vision left its seeds and it was deeply rooted in his brain. He could still realize the vision, but had no words to express it.
The light would make the scene as if it had been in the daylight and explain the meaning of silence. In the light he would see more than ten thousand people. They were not using the voice, but they were expressing thoughts as if by words. They were not giving attention in hearing, but they were receiving sounds with the ears. They were writing songs although nobody was singing them. And no one had the courage to break the silence.
The speaker in his dream told the people fools and said that silence grows like a cancer. He asked them to hear his advice and to hold their arms, but his words were like silent raindrops and had no effect on them.
The song 'The Sound of Silence' consists of five irregular stanzas where the poet presents the conflict between spiritual and material value in the modern world. The poetic persona is a visionary who warns against the lack of spiritual seriousness in modern people. The poem begins with an address by the poet persona to the darkness. He says that he has come to talk with the darkness, because a certain vision planted its seeds in his brain while he was sleeping. The vision still remains there as the sound of silence.
The poet wakes in his restless dream and walks alone. He arrives at a place where more than ten thousand people are talking without speaking and hearing without listening. They are writing songs that voices never shares and no one dares to break the silence. The poetic persona tells them that silence grows like cancer. He asks them to hear his words and to hold his hand. But his words do not touch them at all. Instead, the people pray and worship the neon signs. The neon sign flashes which say that “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement hall.”
The song can be interpreted as a bitter satire towards the materialistic tendency of the people in the modern world. People have forgotten the real meaning and value of life. They are running after material prosperity and physical luxury. They work hard and earn a lot. They accumulate a lot of wealth and things but this does not make them happy. Rather they are moving further and further away from true happiness because they have ignored the true goal of life. They debate and quarrel about worthless things. They listen to or watch meaningless things. This is what the poet probably means by talking without speaking and hearing without listening.
Word Count : 954
