Hello Darkness, My Old Friend: “The Sound Of Silence”

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Paul Simon wrote “The Sound of Silence” in his parents’ bathroom in Queens, New York in 1964. It was completely dark and he had the water running – a sound he described as “soothing”. The bathroom was one of Simon’s favourite places to write and the song’s famous first line, “Hello darkness, my old friend”, salutes that fact.

The first recording of the song appears on Simon & Garfunkel’s 1964 debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3AM. In the style of the rest of that record, it’s all soft acoustic guitars, melting harmonies and fingerpicked countermelodies – quintessential Simon & Garfunkel, a poignant and subtly delivered piece. Here’s a live performance of the acoustic original:

The version that appears on the album of the same name, though, is a completely different beast and it became that way without the involvement or permission of either Simon or Garfunkel. As a direct reaction to the success of Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone”, the track was overdubbed with electric guitars and drums to capitalise on the folk rock craze sweeping the globe. Due to the increased attention to production, this version is crisper than the original – but there’s something in the bare bones intimacy of the 1964 recording that allows the lyrics to shine that much brighter.

Whichever rendition you prefer, “The Sound of Silence” has stood the test of time. Even now, at 71, Simon’s performances of the song are incredibly moving. Live, he extends the instrumental opening beyond the 1-5-2-5-1-5-2-5-1 refrain to include the melody, too, and when he opens his mouth and sings “Hello darkness, my old friend”, despite the years that have crossed his face you can still picture him, crouched low in his parents’ bathroom, water running, fingers dancing. Often, the line “in the naked light I saw/ten thousand people maybe more” is met by lights illuminating the crowd and enthusiastic whooping - did Simon ever imagine that those lyrics would become so literal for him?

It’s as haunting today as it was almost 50 years ago - no performance demonstrates that more clearly than this heartbreaking rendition for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in 2011. There are no cheers here, of course - just deafening silence.

To me, this song is a time capsule that will be relevant no matter when you open it. In terms of sound and message, it’s evergreen. Whether you’re listening to it on vinyl or mp3, watching it brilliantly parodied on a 1994 episode of The Simpsons or laughing at GOB Bluth’s face of despair as it’s used as a repeated gag on this year’s Arrested Development, “The Sound of Silence” is a song that we all keep going back to for different reasons.

Note: The song was originally released as “The Sounds of Silence”, but was renamed for later compilation releases and is now generally known in the singular form.

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