[Verse 1]
Am                        G
   Hello darkness, my old friend,
                            Am
I've come to talk with you again,
                      F      C
Because a vision softly creeping,
                        F       C
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
        F                             C
And the vision that was planted in my brain
            C/B Am    C
Still remains
           G        Am
Within the sound of silence.

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

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

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

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