![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timepiececlockHello 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 shared.
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 whisper'd in the sounds of silence.
I've always looked back on this song and agreed that it is an excellent example of the lesson she was trying to convey: that every word in a poetic work should serve the whole. What I love about this song is not just the slightly creepy cultish theme or the pessimistic ideas, or even the way it's played. What I love is that you can pick out almost any noun or verb or adverb in the song and easily trace how it relates to the whole. The themes of sound, silence, and music are in every aspect of the song/poem--- not just what the little "story" is saying, but in each word chosen for its power and place. Figurative language, say hello.
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 shared.
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 whisper'd in the sounds of silence.
I've always looked back on this song and agreed that it is an excellent example of the lesson she was trying to convey: that every word in a poetic work should serve the whole. What I love about this song is not just the slightly creepy cultish theme or the pessimistic ideas, or even the way it's played. What I love is that you can pick out almost any noun or verb or adverb in the song and easily trace how it relates to the whole. The themes of sound, silence, and music are in every aspect of the song/poem--- not just what the little "story" is saying, but in each word chosen for its power and place. Figurative language, say hello.
