[Am] Hello darkness my old [G] friend,

I've come to talk with you [Am] again.

[C] Because a vision softly [F] creep-[C]-ing

Left its seed while I was [F] sleep-[C]-ing,

And the [F] vision that was planted in my [C] brain

Still re-[Am]-mains

[C] Within the [G] sounds of [Am] silence.

[Am] In restless dreams I walked a-[G]-lone,

Narrow streets of cobble [Am] stone.

[C] 'Neath the halo of [F] a street [C] lamp,

I turned my collar to the [C] cold and [C] damp,

When my [F] eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon [C] light

That split the [Am] night

[C] And touched the [G] sounds of [Am] silence.

[Am] And in the naked light I [G] saw

Ten thousand people, maybe [Am] more.

[C] People talking without [F] speak-[C]-ing,

People hearing without [F] listen-[C]-ing,

People writing [F] songs that voices never [C] shared,

And no one [Am] dared

[C] Disturb the [G] sounds of [Am] silence.

[Am] Fools! said I, you do not [G] know,

Silence like a cancer [Am] grows.

[C] Hear my words that I might [F] teach [C] you,

Take my arms that I might [F] reach [C]you.

But my [F] words like silent raindrops [C] fell [Am]

And [C] echoed in the [G] wells of [Am] silence.

[Am] And the people bowed and [G] prayed

To the neon gods they [Am] made.

[C] And the sign flashed out its [F] warn-[C]-ing,

In the words that it [F] was form-[C]-ing,

And the sign said, The [F] words of the prophets are

Written on the subway [C] walls

And tenement [Am] halls.

And [C] whispered in the [G] sounds of [Am] silence.