About The Song
“The Sound of Silence” (originally titled “The Sounds of Silence”) is a song written by Paul Simon and recorded by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. The original acoustic version was recorded on March 10, 1964, at Columbia’s 7th Avenue Recording Studios in New York City. It appeared on the duo’s debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., released on October 19, 1964, by Columbia Records. The album sold approximately 3,000 copies upon release and did not chart significantly.
The song was produced by Tom Wilson. The original recording featured Paul Simon on acoustic guitar and vocals, Art Garfunkel on vocals, Barry Kornfeld on additional acoustic guitar, and Bill Lee on double bass. The track runs 3 minutes and 5 seconds in its primary released forms.
Paul Simon began writing the song in late 1963 when he was 21 years old. He composed it in the bathroom of his parents’ house, using the tiled walls for natural echo and running water from the faucet as a background sound while working in the dark. According to accounts from Simon and Garfunkel, the lyrics were refined over several months, with the complete set finalized by February 19, 1964. The duo had performed an early version live under the name Kane & Garr prior to the studio recording.
Following the commercial underperformance of Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., Simon and Garfunkel temporarily went their separate ways. Simon relocated to England, where he recorded a solo acoustic version of the song for his 1965 UK album The Paul Simon Songbook. Garfunkel returned to college studies.
In spring 1965, the acoustic version of “The Sound of Silence” began receiving airplay on radio stations, particularly in Boston and later along the East Coast into Florida. Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson, who had worked on the original session, became aware of the growing interest. Without informing Simon or Garfunkel, Wilson arranged an overdub session on June 15, 1965. He added electric instruments and drums to the existing acoustic track, drawing on session musicians including guitarists Al Gorgoni and Vinnie Bell, bassist Bob Bushnell, and drummer Bobby Gregg. Engineer Roy Halee applied echo effects during the remix. The tempo inconsistencies of the original acoustic performance created technical challenges during the overdub process.
The overdubbed electric version was released as a single on September 12, 1965 (some sources list September 13), with “We’ve Got a Groovy Thing Goin'” as the B-side. Simon and Garfunkel first learned of the remix after its commercial release. The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 and climbed steadily. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending January 1, 1966, and held the top position again for the week of January 22, 1966. It spent a total of 14 weeks on the Hot 100. During January 1966, it alternated at the top of the chart with the Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out.”
The success of the single prompted Columbia Records to request a new album from the duo. Simon returned from England, and the pair recorded material that became their second studio album, Sounds of Silence, released on January 17, 1966. The overdubbed version of “The Sound of Silence” opened the album. The album peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200 and number 13 on the UK Albums Chart.
The electric single version of “The Sound of Silence” also charted internationally, reaching top-ten positions in several countries including Australia, Austria, West Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands. It later appeared on the soundtrack to the 1967 film The Graduate, used under both the opening and closing credits, and was included on the related Mrs. Robinson EP in 1968.
Personnel for the original acoustic recording are as listed above. The overdub session added the electric guitar, bass, and drums noted. The song has been included on numerous Simon & Garfunkel compilation albums, beginning with Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits in 1972. In 2004, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. BMI ranked it as the 18th most-performed song of the 20th century in 1999. Rolling Stone placed it at number 156 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Paul Simon later released a solo acoustic live version on the 1974 album Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin’, which reached minor positions on secondary charts. The original acoustic recording and the 1965 electric overdub remain the primary documented studio versions from the mid-1960s period. Session documentation confirms the March 10, 1964, basic track date and the June 15, 1965, overdub date. Chart archives verify the September 1965 single release, the January 1 and January 22, 1966, number-one peaks on the Billboard Hot 100, and the 14-week total chart run.
These details are corroborated across Columbia Records catalog information, Billboard chart data, contemporary production accounts involving Tom Wilson and the session musicians, and discography records of the albums Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. and Sounds of Silence.
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Lyric
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 silenceIn 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 silenceAnd 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
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 silenceAnd 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”