The Sound of Silence Essay

As an American, I was born in a time where freedom of speech wasn’t questioned; I’ve always stated my opinion and no one ever objected. I was raised in a household where expressing yourself was the only way to talk to each other, so I’m not sure I can fathom the depths of Simon’s words. To me Simon’s lyrics felt as if he was speaking to the darkness of the world and no one was listening. Simon was trying to communicate with a society that had long lost the ability to communicate with each other. He wanted to portray the societal disaffection that loomed over the sixties. “The Sound of Silence” speaks of people’s ability to speak and understand each other, or the lack there of. It is an increasing plea of Simon’s vision that we all need to love each other once again. The folk-rock sound of this song had a basic appeal to the listeners of the sixties. Garfunkel singing the increasing forceful melody, Simon gently enforcing Garfunkel with the harmony, and the calm, comforting flow of a single guitar forever etched itself into the hearts of American teenagers. The musical attributes to this song are incredibly beautiful in a simplistic manner. The echo of the guitar floats through your ears. The softness of Garfunkel’s pitch is complimented by the whisper of Simon’s melody. You can feel this song in your heart. “Hello, darkness, my old friend,” is simply a familiar comfort for all of us that have ever felt alone and ignored. This line reaches to the poet and sadness in all of us. In the darkness we can find security and hope. A song with such beautiful words needed no musical help; however, Simon and Garfunkel put the two aspects together seamlessly and created what would become their mark on the sixties. The result is exquisitely written music with an unearthly undertone. You can feel the vulnerability of this song in each note played.

“The Sound of Silence” uses imagery of light and dark to show how indifference and ignorance can destroy people’s capability to relate to one another. This can eventually lead to the loss of the ability to even simply love each other. In most literary works light symbolizes truth and enlightenment. Simon uses it as a symbolic metaphor for destructiveness. Words such as stabbing and flashing are used to represent the painful repercussions of not communicating with each other. “In restless dreams I walked alone,” Simon writes, “I turned my collar to the cold and damp.” He uses such imagery to relate to his audience that feeling of alienation and sadness. Simon uses the word “naked” to describe light in a clear reference to purity, yet turns around to say that the “neon” sign showed people that the unhappiness of their world was self-inflicted. The poetic words of Simon reach deep into the subconscious and relate with unmatched sincerity to the convictions of the human spirit.

Simon assumes a position in this song that is almost patronizing and morally judgmental. He assumes a position that Americans were rebelling against in the sixties. “Fools,” said I, “you do not know. Silence like a cancer grows.” Simon is trying to speak from wisdom and experience, but his words are falling on deaf ears. “Take my arms that I might reach you.” You can feel Simon calling to the listener. Whispering in your ear, “Hear my words that I might teach you,” to love again. He is trying to show Americans that their opinions are what matters now. They’re the ones that have to change the world. There is no serious understanding in this world because there is no communication. Simon illustrates this with words such as “People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening.” He conveys the message that communication no longer exists in society.

The words of Paul Simon in this song have meant many things to many different people. Everyone interprets different, and no interpretation is ever wrong. I felt that, without a doubt, Simon wrote this song out of loneliness; yet he wrote it with the intention to prove a point to the American people. He believed that the isolation he was feeling was something all people felt one time or another. This song was a way of saying we need to relay these feelings with one another and then maybe this world will seem a little better. This song also represented Simon’s own inability to communicate. In the comfort of his darkness, he wrote a song preaching community and togetherness. The irony is that “The Sound of Silence” is all that can be heard now, but who is there to listen?