The Sound Of Silence
Vocal：Simon & Garfunkel
60年代对美国而言是个多事之秋的年代，历经了一连串的动荡与不安。对内，反种族歧视民权意识高涨；对外背负著『越战』沉重的包袱。内忧外患之际，美国人的精神领袖甘乃迪(John F.Kennedy)总统於1963年11月22日在德州的达拉斯遇刺身亡，举世震惊，全国悲恸。由黑人人权领袖马丁路德金恩博士(Martin Luther King Jr.)所领导的反暴力反种族歧视正如火如荼的展开，国内反越战的声音也甚嚣尘上。美国人民的梦在肯尼迪总统倒下的一刻，也跟着粉碎了！
就在这样的时空背景下，美国的民谣歌手保罗赛门(Paul Simon )创作了这首家喻户晓、发人深省的歌曲：沉默之音(The Sound Of Silence)，献给了动荡的六〇年代。只可惜这样一首针砭时弊的好歌，於1964年发行时，却得不到青睐，人们依旧是听而不闻(hearing without listening)。若非一位DJ特别钟爱这首歌，增加这首歌在电台播放的频率，哥伦比亚唱片公司也不会考虑将这首歌重新编曲，以单曲发行。然而冥冥中似乎注定，才华洋溢如保罗赛门是不该被时代埋没的。於是史上最优美的二重唱赛门与葛方柯(Simon & Garfunkel)便在这首重新编曲的『沉默之音』中浴火重生。且让我们详细探讨这首发人省醒的歌曲吧！
英文歌词
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
With in 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 voice 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 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 whispered in the
sounds of silence.