Em                        D
   Hello darkness, my old friend,
                           Em
I've come to talk with you again,
                     C       G
Because a vision softly creeping,
                       C       G
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
        C                             G
And the vision that was planted in my brain
            G/F# Em
Still remains
G           D        Em
Within the sound of silence.

[Verse 2]
                        D
In restless dreams I walked alone
                        Em
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
                   C        G
'neath the halo of a street lamp,
                          C        G
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
        C                                        G
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
                    G/F# Em
That split the night
 G              D        Em
And touched the sound of silence.

[Verse 3]
                         D
And in the naked light I saw
                           Em
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
                   C       G
People talking without speaking,
                   C        G
People hearing without listening,
               C                       G
People writing songs that voices never share
              G/F# Em
And no one dare
G           D        Em
Disturb the sound of silence.

[Verse 4]
                         D
Fools said I, you do not know
                      Em
Silence like a cancer grows.
                     C           G
Hear my words that I might teach you,
                    C           G
Take my arms that I might reach you.
       C                           G   G/F# Em
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
   G
And echoed
       D        Em
In the wells of silence

[Verse 5]
                         D
And the people bowed and prayed
                     Em
To the neon God they made.
                         C      G
And the sign flashed out its warning,
                      C     G
In the words that it was forming.
                       C
And the sign said, the words of the prophets
                           G
Are written on the subway walls
             G     G/F# Em
And tenement halls.
         G           D         Em
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.