Simon & Garfunkle: The Sound of Silence

Falkenhorst · Post by **Falkenhorst** » 2004-01-26 04:40pm

I just downloaded this song, and I'm wondering if there is certain social significance and meaning in they lyrics.

The Sound of Silence

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 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 share
And no one dare
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.

Queeb Salaron · Post by **Queeb Salaron** » 2004-01-26 04:54pm

It's a song written by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. OF COURSE it has social implications.

As I understand it, the song is about protest and individuality. The lyrics praise sound, and condemn those who stand in silence. Instead of speaking their minds on certain issues, particularly the saturation of society with materialistic apathy, they follow the crowd. Simon and Garfunkel, if they are to be understood as the narrators of the song, act as prophets, calling on the people to follow them out of silence. But the people remain, mindless cattle filing off towards the slaughterhouse.

If you want a great song for social commentary, take a listen to "The Boxer" by the same artists. It's a little more abstract, but much more meaningful.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-01-26 05:07pm

Queeb Salaron wrote:It's a song written by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. OF COURSE it has social implications.

As I understand it, the song is about protest and individuality. The lyrics praise sound, and condemn those who stand in silence. Instead of speaking their minds on certain issues, particularly the saturation of society with materialistic apathy, they follow the crowd. Simon and Garfunkel, if they are to be understood as the narrators of the song, act as prophets, calling on the people to follow them out of silence. But the people remain, mindless cattle filing off towards the slaughterhouse.

If you want a great song for social commentary, take a listen to "The Boxer" by the same artists. It's a little more abstract, but much more meaningful.

You hit the nail right on the head, although Paul Simon wrote and recorded The Boxer on his own IIRC. Those were the days when songs actually meant something......it's sad how music has declined into mindless pointless shit.

Queeb Salaron · Post by **Queeb Salaron** » 2004-01-26 05:13pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:You hit the nail right on the head,

Why thankee.

...although Paul Simon wrote and recorded The Boxer on his own IIRC.

That could be. But I seem to remember a background singer. I assumed it was Art.

Those were the days when songs actually meant something......it's sad how music has declined into mindless pointless shit.

Oh come on... You're telling me that 50 Cent's "In the Club" is "mindless pointless shit"? You have no sense of romance!!

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-01-26 05:15pm

Queeb Salaron wrote:
Oh come on... You're telling me that 50 Cent's "In the Club" is "mindless pointless shit"? You have no sense of romance!!

or who could forget the heart stirring:

my milkshake brings all da boyz to da yard
and their life is better than yours!

Queeb Salaron · Post by **Queeb Salaron** » 2004-01-26 05:18pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:or who could forget the heart stirring:

my milkshake brings all da boyz to da yard
and their life is better than yours!

Classic, classic. But remember this one?

Blow my whistle, bitch.
tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet...
tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweeeeet...

The Aliens · Post by **The Aliens** » 2004-01-26 07:34pm

How about 'Yummy, yummy, yummy I've got love in my tummy?' That's what I call profundity.

The Morrigan · Post by **The Morrigan** » 2004-01-26 07:49pm

Of course modern music still has a profound social significance. I don't suppose that anyone would care to enlighten me as to the profound meaning behind the lyrics Who took the bomp from the bompalompalomp? Who took the ram from the ramalamadingdong? Or where I can get hold of the albums The Sound of Silence and Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme on CD?

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2004-01-26 08:42pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:
Queeb Salaron wrote:It's a song written by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. OF COURSE it has social implications.

As I understand it, the song is about protest and individuality. The lyrics praise sound, and condemn those who stand in silence. Instead of speaking their minds on certain issues, particularly the saturation of society with materialistic apathy, they follow the crowd. Simon and Garfunkel, if they are to be understood as the narrators of the song, act as prophets, calling on the people to follow them out of silence. But the people remain, mindless cattle filing off towards the slaughterhouse.

If you want a great song for social commentary, take a listen to "The Boxer" by the same artists. It's a little more abstract, but much more meaningful.
You hit the nail right on the head, although Paul Simon wrote and recorded The Boxer on his own IIRC. Those were the days when songs actually meant something......it's sad how music has declined into mindless pointless shit.

But what messages are artists nowadays going to put into their song beyond how hard it is being a white middle-class teenager in today's world?

Demiurge · Post by **Demiurge** » 2004-01-26 09:00pm

Morrigan wrote:Of course modern music still has a profound social significance. I don't suppose that anyone would care to enlighten me as to the profound meaning behind the lyrics Who took the bomp from the bompalompalomp? Who took the ram from the ramalamadingdong? Or where I can get hold of the albums The Sound of Silence and Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme on CD?

That's not a new song. If you want fresh profoundity, you need not go any farther than the singularly talented Avril Lavigne.

he was a sk8ter boi
she said see you l8ter boi
he wasn't good enough for her
she had a pretty face
but her head was up in space
she needed to come back down to earth

Now THAT is powerful social commentary.

The Morrigan · Post by **The Morrigan** » 2004-01-26 09:21pm

Demiurge wrote:That's not a new song.

I probably just think it is because I only heard of it recently & Triple J keep flogging it to death on the radio. It's actually a pretty cool song.

Demiurge wrote: If you want fresh profoundity, you need not go any farther than the singularly talented Avril Lavigne.

he was a sk8ter boi
she said see you l8ter boi
he wasn't good enough for her
she had a pretty face
but her head was up in space
she needed to come back down to earth

Now THAT is powerful social commentary.

Please don't get me started on Avril Lavigne. I sincerely believe that she is the Antichrist.

His Divine Shadow · Post by **His Divine Shadow** » 2004-01-27 05:09am

Demiurge wrote:Now THAT is powerful social commentary.

Yup, goddamn fucking people will accept anyfuckingshit for lyrics nowadays dammititwasbetterintheoldendays, damn!

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2004-01-27 05:20am

Ok how about a song of great social and political importance explaining the motivation behind TV preachers.

janis joplin wrote:Oh lord won't you buy me a mersades benz my friends all drive porsches I must make amends.
Worked hard all my life time, no help from my friends.
so lord won't you buy me.
a mersades benz.

oh, lord won't you buy me a color TV
dialing for Dollars is trying to find me
I wait for delivery each day until three
so lord won't you buy me a color tv

Oh lord won't you buy me a night on the town
I'm counting on you lord
please don't let me down
prove that you love me,
and buy the next round.

Now all she needed was lyrics about church secretaries, gold chains, and multi billion dollar radio/television enterprises and she would have seen it!

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-01-27 05:24am

To be honest, I often don't even hear lyrics for quite a few songs. I only concentrate on listening to the musical quality of the whole thing, so to me they're just part of the music. Unless the lyrics are nonsense or obvious, of course.

Bob McDob · Post by **Bob McDob** » 2004-01-27 06:14am

I don't listen to songs with lyrics. Or if I do I choose ones in languages I don't understand.

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2004-01-27 08:11am

About the Joplin Lyrics: It's a Mercedes Benz

If DaimlerChrylser and Porsche pay pothumous for that product placement?

But it's sad that most "musicians" don't write meaningful lyrics. Heck, most don't write new music anymore, but just use old songs and "modernize" them. *shudder*

The Aliens · Post by **The Aliens** » 2004-01-27 12:15pm

I wholeheartedly believe 'sk8r boi' by Avril Lavinge is responsible for 90% of the violent crime in Canada today.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-01-27 05:05pm

Social Commentary? *smirks*

"Four Green Fields"
"A Nation Once Again"
"(come out you) Black and Tan"
"Black Velvet Band"
"Waltzing Matilda"
"The Band Played 'Waltzing Matilda'"
"Willie McBride" aka "Green Fields of France"
"Willie McBride's Answer"
"Rosie Anderson"

Believe me, I could go on and on.

Classic songs, each of them, reflections of the times they were written.

About the best Modern song I've heard for social commentary is "(you'll really know) What It's Like"

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2004-01-27 05:27pm

Well Bob Dylan invented Rap. (Homespun suburban blues)

most social commentary these days i hear is metal or country.

of course I am a big fan of Ms Alanis and that wonderful angry break-up song.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-01-27 05:27pm

I'm not a fan of obvious social commentary in music. If anything, I think music tries too hard to make some kind of social comment nowadays.

Popular music in the 1950s was about romancing a girl or throwing a party. Popular music in the 1960s was about rocking and rolling, drugs, or having sex, with occasional bits of "important" music sprinkled into the mix based on important current events. Popular music in the 1970s and 1980s continued the trend from the 1960s.

But then, in the 1990s, people started thinking that all music should have something "important" to say. Worse yet, people started treating music as some kind of badge of intellectual superiority. "Oh, you listen to AC/DC? Well, I listen to Green Day. Unlike you, I prefer to listen to music with substance! *nose in the air". And that's where we are now. Even rap music is rife with morose social commentary about how hard life is in the ghetto. In fact, that's how you "prove" you're a "real" artist; by making morose whiny bullshit about all of the injustice in the world while pocketing millions for singing songs.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2004-01-27 05:29pm

Let's get old then:

Nina Simone wrote:Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter cry.

Feel the pain

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2004-01-27 05:34pm

well the blues has never been about larger social issues
and it's always had substance.

Leadbelly wrote: "Mother, did you bring me silver
did you bring me gold
did you come to save me
from the the gallis pole."

Leadbelly wrote: Have you seen that
vigilante man
carrying his sawn off shotgun
in his hands
he'd lynch a poor mother or a sister
that good for nothin vigilante man

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2004-01-27 05:37pm

A favorite of my:

The King wrote:As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
'cause if there's one thing that she don't need
it's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto

People, don't you understand
the child needs a helping hand
or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
are we too blind to see,
do we simply turn our heads
and look the other way

Well the world turns
and a hungry little boy with a runny nose
plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto

And his hunger burns
so he starts to roam the streets at night
and he learns how to steal
and he learns how to fight
In the ghetto

Then one night in desperation
a young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries

As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto

As her young man dies,
on a cold and gray Chicago mornin',
another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2004-01-27 05:38pm

thanks for the reminder Faram

of course "god bless the child" has a subtler message about gender equality.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-01-27 05:38pm

Some music is done because it sounds good. Some music tells a story. Yet other music tries to give social implications. And of course some music like Smashfoot or Blues Travelers make absolutely no sense but sounds great.