The Sound Of Silence - Wikipedia

1964 song recorded by Simon & Garfunkel For other uses, see The Sound of Silence (disambiguation).

"The Sound of Silence"
Side A of the 1965 US vinyl single
Single by Simon & Garfunkel
from the album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. and Sounds of Silence
B-side	"We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin'"
Released	October 19, 1964 (original acoustic version) September 12, 1965 (1965-09-12) (overdubbed electric version)
Recorded	March 10, 1964
Studio	Columbia 7th Ave, New York City
Genre	Folk rock[1]
Length	3:05
Label	Columbia
Songwriter	Paul Simon
Producer	Tom Wilson
Simon & Garfunkel singles chronology
"The Sound of Silence" (1964) "Homeward Bound" (1966)
Audio
"The Sound of Silence" on YouTube

"The Sound of Silence" (originally "The Sounds of Silence") is a song by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon. The duo's studio audition of the song led to a record deal with Columbia Records, and the original acoustic version was recorded in March 1964 at Columbia's 7th Avenue Recording Studios in New York City for their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., released that October to disappointing sales. An overdubbed electric remix was released the following year and went to number one on the Billboard singles chart.

In 1965, the song began to attract airplay at radio stations in Boston and throughout Florida. The growing airplay led Tom Wilson, the song's producer, to remix the track, overdubbing electric instruments and drums. This remixed version was released as a single in September 1965. Simon & Garfunkel were not informed of the song's remix until after its release. The remix hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending January 1, 1966, leading the duo to reunite and hastily record their second album, which Columbia titled Sounds of Silence in an attempt to capitalize on the song's success. The remixed single version of the song was included on this follow-up album. Later, it was featured under both the opening and closing credits of the 1967 film The Graduate and was included on the film's soundtrack album. It was additionally released on the Mrs. Robinson EP in 1968, along with three other songs from the film: "Mrs. Robinson", "April Come She Will", and "Scarborough Fair/Canticle".

"The Sound of Silence" was a top-ten hit in multiple countries worldwide, among them Australia, Austria, West Germany, Japan and the Netherlands. Since its release, the song was included in later compilations, beginning with the 1972 compilation album Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits.[2]

Background

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Origin and original recording

[edit]

Simon and Garfunkel had become interested in folk music and the growing counterculture movement separately in the early 1960s. Having performed together previously under the name Tom and Jerry in the late 1950s, their partnership had dissolved by the time they began attending college. In 1963, they regrouped and began performing Simon's original compositions locally in Queens. They billed themselves "Kane & Garr", after old recording pseudonyms, and signed up for Gerde's Folk City, a Greenwich Village club that hosted Monday night performances.[3] In September 1963, the duo's performances caught the attention of Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson, a young African-American jazz musician who was also helping to guide Bob Dylan's transition from folk to rock.[4][3][5] Simon convinced Wilson to let him and his partner have a studio audition; their performance of "The Sound of Silence" got the duo signed to Columbia.[6]

The song's origin and basis are unclear, with some thinking that the song commented on the assassination of John F. Kennedy,[7] as the song was recorded three months after the assassination, although Simon & Garfunkel had performed the song live as Kane & Garr two months before the assassination.[8] Simon wrote "The Sound of Silence" when he was 21 years old,[9][10] later explaining that the song was written in his bathroom, where he turned off the lights to better concentrate.[5] "The main thing about playing the guitar, though, was that I was able to sit by myself and play and dream. And I was always happy doing that. I used to go off in the bathroom, because the bathroom had tiles, so it was a slight echo chamber. I'd turn on the faucet so that water would run (I like that sound, it's very soothing to me) and I'd play. In the dark. 'Hello darkness, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again.'"[11] According to Garfunkel, the song was first developed in November 1963, but Simon took three months to perfect the lyrics, which were entirely written on February 19, 1964.[12] Garfunkel, introducing the song at a live performance (with Simon) in Haarlem (Netherlands), in June 1966, summed up the song's meaning as "the inability of people to communicate with each other, and not particularly internationally but especially emotionally, so that what you see around you is people who are unable to love each other."[5]

Garfunkel's college roommate, Sandy Greenberg, wrote in his memoir that the song reflected the strong bond of friendship between Simon and Garfunkel, who had adopted the epithet "Darkness" to empathise with Greenberg's sudden-onset blindness.[13]

To promote the release of their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., released on October 19, 1964,[14] the duo performed again at Folk City, as well as two shows at the Gaslight Café, which went over poorly. Dave Van Ronk, a folk singer, was at the performances, and noted that several in the audience regarded their music as a joke.[15] "'Sounds of Silence' actually became a running joke: for a while there, it was only necessary to start singing 'Hello darkness, my old friend ... ' and everybody would crack up."[16] Wednesday Morning, 3 AM sold only 3,000 copies upon its October release, and its dismal sales led Simon to move to London.[17] While there, he recorded a solo album, The Paul Simon Songbook (1965), which features a rendition of the song, titled "The Sound of Silence" (instead of "The Sounds of Silence", as on Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.).[18]

The original recording of the song is in D♯ minor, using the chords D♯m, C♯, B and F♯. Simon plays a guitar with a capo on the sixth fret, using the shapes for Am, G, F and C chords. He provides the lower vocals for harmony while Garfunkel sings the melody.[19] The vocal span goes from C♯3 to F♯4 in the song.[20]

Remix

[edit]

Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. had been a commercial failure before producer Tom Wilson was alerted that radio stations had begun to play "The Sound of Silence" in spring 1965. A late-night disc jockey at WBZ in Boston began to spin "The Sound of Silence", where it found a college student audience.[21] Those at Harvard and Tufts University responded well, and the song made its way down the east coast pretty much "overnight", "all the way to Cocoa Beach, Florida, where it caught the students coming down for spring break."[21] A promotional executive for Columbia went to give away free albums of new artists, and beach-goers were interested only in the artists behind "The Sound of Silence". He phoned the home office in New York, alerting them of its appeal.[22] An alternate version of the story states that Wilson attended Columbia's July 1965 convention in Miami, where the head of the local sales branch raved about the song's airplay.[23]

Folk rock was beginning to make waves on pop radio, with songs such as the Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man" charting high.[24] Wilson listened to the song several times, thinking it too soft for a wide release.[21] He had strong feelings about editing the song with explicit rock overtones.[25] As stated by Geoffrey Himes, "If Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson hadn't taken the initiative, without the singers' knowledge, to dub a rock rhythm section over their folk rendition, the song never would have become a cultural touchstone—a generation's shorthand for alienation."[26] Wilson had also experimented the previous December with overdubbing an electric band over acoustic tracks by Bob Dylan; these recordings were never officially released, as Dylan and Wilson opted to record new tracks with a live band for what would become the album Bringing It All Back Home.

On June 15, 1965, following sessions for Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", Wilson retained guitarist Al Gorgoni and drummer Bobby Gregg from the Dylan sessions, adding guitarist Vinnie Bell and bassist Bob Bushnell.[27] The tempo on the original recording was uneven, making it difficult for the musicians to keep the song in time.[24] Engineer Roy Halee employed a heavy echo on the remix, which was a common trait of the Byrds' hits.[24] The single was first provided to college FM rock stations, and a commercial single release followed on September 13, 1965.[23] The lack of consultation with Simon and Garfunkel on the remix was because, although the duo was still contracted to Columbia Records, the duo was no longer a "working entity".[24][28] It was not unusual for producers to add instruments or vocals to previous releases and re-release them as new products.[citation needed]

In the fall of 1965, Simon was in Denmark, performing at small clubs, and picked up a copy of Billboard, as he had routinely done for several years.[23] Upon seeing "The Sound of Silence" in the Billboard Hot 100, he bought a copy of Cashbox and saw the same thing. Several days later, Garfunkel excitedly called Simon to inform him of the single's growing success.[23] A copy of the 7-inch single arrived in the mail the next day, and according to friend Al Stewart, "Paul was horrified when he first heard it ... [when the] rhythm section slowed down at one point so that Paul and Artie's voices could catch up."[25] Garfunkel was far less concerned about the remix, feeling conditioned to the process of trying to create a hit single: "It's interesting, I suppose it might do something, It might sell," he told Wilson.[29]

Lyrics

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The lyrics of the song are written in five stanzas of seven lines each. Each stanza begins with a couplet describing the setting of the scene, followed by a couplet driving the action forward and another couplet expressing the climactic thought of the verse, and closes with a one-line refrain referring to "the sound of silence". The progress of the lyrics through its five stanzas places the singer into an incrementally increasing tension with an increasingly ambiguous "sound of silence". The irony of using the word "sound" to describe silence in the title lyrics suggests a paradoxical symbolism being used by the singer, which the lyrics of the fourth stanza eventually identifies as "silence like a cancer grows". The "sound of silence" is symbolically taken also to denote the cultural alienation associated with much of the 1960s.[26]

The first stanza presents the singer as taking some relative solace in the peacefulness he associates with "darkness" which is submerged "within" the ambiguous sound of silence.[30] The second stanza has the effect of breaking into the silence with "the flash of a neon light" which leaves the singer "touched" by the enduring ambiguity of the sound of silence. In the third stanza, a "naked light" emerges as a vision of 10,000 people all caught within their own solitude and alienation without any one of them daring to "disturb" the recurring sound of silence.

In the fourth stanza, the singer proclaims in a declarative voice that "silence like a cancer grows," though his words "like silent raindrops fell" without ever being heard against the by now cancerous sound of silence. The fifth stanza appears to culminate with the urgency raised by the declarative voice in the fourth stanza through the apparent triumph of a false "neon god". The false neon god is only challenged when a "sign flashed out its warning" that only the words of the indigent written on "subway walls and tenement halls" could still "whisper" their truth against the recurring and ambiguous form of "the sound of silence".[5] The song has no lyrical bridge and was written without any lyrical intro or outro.

Personnel

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• Paul Simon – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Art Garfunkel – vocals
• Barry Kornfeld – acoustic guitar
• Bill Lee – double bass

(electric overdubs) personnel

• Al Gorgoni, Vinnie Bell – guitar
• Joe Mack (also known as Joe Macho) – bass guitar
• Bobby Gregg – drums

Charts performance

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Charts history

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"The Sound of Silence" first broke in Boston, where it became one of the top-selling singles in early November 1965;[23][31] it spread to Miami and Washington, D.C. two weeks later, reaching number one in Boston and debuting on the Billboard Hot 100.[32]

Throughout the month of January 1966 "The Sound of Silence" had a one-on-one battle with the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" for the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. "The Sound of Silence" was number one for the weeks of January 1 and 22 and number two for the intervening two weeks. "We Can Work It Out" held the top spot for the weeks of January 8, 15, and 29, and it was number two for the two weeks that "The Sound of Silence" was number one. Overall, "The Sound of Silence" spent 14 weeks on the Billboard chart.[33]

In the wake of the song's success, Simon promptly returned to the United States to record a new Simon & Garfunkel album at Columbia's request. He later described his experiences learning the song went to number one, a story he repeated in numerous interviews:[34]

I had come back to New York, and I was staying in my old room at my parents' house. Artie was living at his parents' house, too. I remember Artie and I were sitting there in my car one night, parked on a street in Queens, and the announcer [on the radio] said, "Number one, Simon & Garfunkel." And Artie said to me, "That Simon & Garfunkel, they must be having a great time." Because there we were on a street corner [in my car in] Queens, smoking a joint. We didn't know what to do with ourselves.[35]

For his part, Garfunkel had a different memory of the song's success:

We were in L.A. Our manager called us at the hotel we were staying at. We were both in the same room. We must have bunked in the same room in those days. I picked up the phone. He said, "Well, congratulations. Next week you will go from five to one in Billboard." It was fun. I remember pulling open the curtains and letting the brilliant sun come into this very red room, and then ordering room service. That was good.[34][36]

A cover by Peaches & Herb reached #88 in Canada, July 24, 1971.[37]

Weekly charts

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Chart (1965–68) Peakposition Australia (Kent Music Report) 3 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[38] 3 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[39] 11 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[40] 37 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[41] 4 Germany (GfK)[42] 9 Japan (Oricon)[43][44] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[45] 10 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[46] 11 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[47] 2 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[48] 1 Spain Singles Chart[49] 17 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[50] 94 US Billboard Hot 100[51][52] 1 US Cash Box Top 100[53] 1 Zimbabwe Singles Chart[54] 3 Chart (2016) Peakposition US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[55] 6 Paul Simon solo version Chart (1974) Peakposition Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[56] 42 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[57] 84 US Billboard Easy Listening[58] 50 US Cash Box Top 100[59] 97

Year-end charts [edit] Chart (1966) Position South Africa[60] 10 US Billboard Hot 100[61] 54 US Cash Box Top 100[62] 2 Chart (2016) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[63] 100

Certifications

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Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[64]	Gold	75,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[65]	Platinum	90,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[66]	Gold	250,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[67]	2× Platinum	60,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[68]	Platinum	60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[69]	Platinum	600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[70]	Gold	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover by the Bachelors

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The cover by the Irish group the Bachelors was released in 1966. Simon and Garfunkel's version did not chart in either the UK or Ireland, losing out to the Bachelors cover version, whose version peaked at number three in the UK and number nine in Ireland.

Chart performance

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Chart (1966) Peakposition Ireland (IRMA)[71] 9 UK Singles (OCC)[72] 3

Disturbed version

[edit]

"The Sound of Silence"
Single by Disturbed
from the album Immortalized
Released	December 7, 2015 (2015-12-07)
Recorded	2015
Studio	The Hideout Recording StudioLas Vegas, Nevada
Genre	Symphonic rock
Length	4:08
Label	Reprise
Songwriter	Paul Simon
Producer	Kevin Churko
Disturbed singles chronology
"The Light" (2015) "The Sound of Silence" (2015) "Open Your Eyes" (2016)
Music video
"The Sound of Silence" on YouTube

51 years after its original release, a cover version of "The Sound of Silence" was released by American heavy metal band Disturbed on December 7, 2015.[73][74] A music video was also released.[75] Their cover hit number one on the Billboard Hard Rock Digital Songs[76] and Mainstream Rock charts,[77] and is their highest-charting song on the Hot 100,[78] peaking at number 42. It is also their highest-charting single in Australia, peaking at number four. David Draiman sings it in the key of F♯m. His vocal span goes from F#2 to A4 in scientific pitch notation.[79]

In April 2016, Paul Simon endorsed the cover.[80] Additionally, on April 1, Simon sent Draiman an email praising Disturbed's performance of the rendition on American talk show Conan. Simon wrote, "Really powerful performance on Conan the other day. First time I'd seen you do it live. Nice." "Thanks." Draiman responded, "Mr. Simon, I am honored beyond words. We only hoped to pay homage and honor to the brilliance of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Your compliment means the world to me/us and we are eternally grateful."[81] As of September 2017, the single had sold over 1.5 million digital downloads[82] and had been streamed over 54 million times, estimated Nielsen Music.[83] As of September 2024, the music video has over 1 billion views on YouTube, while the live performance on Conan has over 157 million, making it the most watched YouTube video from the show.[84][85]

In 2023, the Australian DJ Cyril released a remix of Disturbed's version called The Sound of Silence (Cyril Remix).

Accolades

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Region	Year	Publication	Accolade	Rank
United States	2015	Loudwire	20 Best Rock Songs of 2016[86]	1
			10 Best Rock Videos of 2016[87]	2

Weekly charts [edit] Weekly chart performance for "The Sound of Silence" Chart (2015–2024) Peakposition Australia (ARIA)[88] 4 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[89] 1 Belarus Airplay (TopHit)[90] 32 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[91] 23 Bulgaria Airplay (PROPHON)[92] 7 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[93] 40 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[94] 37 Estonia Airplay (TopHit)[95] 14 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[96] 40 Germany (GfK)[97] 2 Germany (Airplay Chart)[98] 28 Ireland (IRMA)[99] 31 Lithuania Airplay (TopHit)[94] 127 Mexico Ingles Airplay (Billboard)[100] 16 Morocco (Hit Radio)[101] 2 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[102] 32 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[103] 67 Portugal (AFP)[104] 44 Portugal Digital Songs (Billboard)[105] 1 Romania (Romanian Radio Airplay)[106] 1 Romania (Romania TV Airplay)[107] 2 Russia Airplay (TopHit)[94] 103 Scotland Singles (OCC)[108] 8 Slovenia (SloTop50)[109] 22 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[110] 17 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[111] 12 Turkey International Airplay (Radiomonitor Türkiye)[112] 2 Ukraine Airplay (TopHit)[113] 13 UK Singles (OCC)[114] 29 UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[115] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[116] 42 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[117] 3 US Rock & Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[118] 8

Monthly charts [edit] Monthly chart performance for "The Sound of Silence" by Disturbed Chart (2024) Peakposition Belarus Airplay (TopHit)[119] 42 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[120] 47 Estonia Airplay (TopHit)[121] 22 Romania Airplay (TopHit)[122] 36 Ukraine Airplay (TopHit)[123] 16 Year-end charts [edit] Year-end chart performance for "The Sound of Silence" Chart (2016) Position Australia (ARIA)[124] 44 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[125] 3 Germany (GfK)[126] 14 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[127] 100 US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[128] 33 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[129] 9 US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[130] 23 Chart (2024) Peakposition Belarus Airplay (TopHit)[131] 105 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[132] 108 Denmark (Tracklisten)[133] 51 Estonia Airplay (TopHit)[134] 35 Decade-end charts [edit] Chart (2010–2019) Position Germany (Official German Charts)[135] 50 US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[136] 49

Weekly charts (remix) [edit] Weekly chart performance for "The Sound of Silence" (Cyril Remix) by Disturbed Chart (2024) Peakposition Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[137] 35 Belarus Airplay (TopHit)[138] 14 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[139] 18 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[140] 6 Croatia International Airplay (Top lista)[141] 39 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[142] 20 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[143] 5 Denmark (Tracklisten)[144] 34 Estonia Airplay (TopHit)[145] 9 France (SNEP)[146] 3 Global 200 (Billboard)[147] 93 Greece International (IFPI)[148] 71 Hungary (Dance Top 40)[149] 1 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[150] 1 Hungary (Single Top 40)[151] 3 Kazakhstan Airplay (TopHit)[152] 4 Latvia Airplay (LaIPA)[153] 17 Lithuania (AGATA)[154] 30 Lithuania Airplay (TopHit)[155] 30 Luxembourg (Billboard)[156] 10 Moldova Airplay (TopHit)[157] 91 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[158] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[159] 12 New Zealand Hot Singles (Recorded Music NZ)[160] 23 Norway (VG-lista)[161] 12 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[162] 1 Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)[163] 7 Portugal (AFP)[164] 50 Romania (UPFR)[165] 3 Romania Airplay (TopHit)[166] 2 Russia Airplay (TopHit)[167] 12 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[168] 2 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[169] 3 South Korea BGM (Circle)[170] 187 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[171] 7 Ukraine Airplay (TopHit)[172] 5 UK Singles (OCC)[173] Counted for the original Disturbed version 47 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[174] 19

Monthly charts (remix) [edit] Monthly chart performance for "The Sound of Silence" (Cyril Remix) by Disturbed Chart (2024) Peakposition Belarus Airplay (TopHit)[175] 15 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[176] 7 Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[177] 21 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[178] 5 Estonia Airplay (TopHit)[179] 14 Kazakhstan Airplay (TopHit)[180] 4 Lithuania Airplay (TopHit)[181] 32 Moldova Airplay (TopHit)[182] 99 Romania Airplay (TopHit)[183] 3 Russia Airplay (TopHit)[184] 14 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[185] 6 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[186] 4 Ukraine Airplay (TopHit)[187] 6 Year-end charts (remix) [edit] Year-end chart performance for "The Sound of Silence" (Cyril Remix) by Disturbed Chart (2024) Position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[188] 71 Belarus Airplay (TopHit)[189] 44 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[190] 98 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[191] 45 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[192] 9 Estonia Airplay (TopHit)[193] 28 France (SNEP)[194] 9 Germany (GfK)[195] 58 Global 200 (Billboard)[196] 172 Hungary (Dance Top 40)[197] 5 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[198] 2 Hungary (Single Top 40)[199] 22 Kazakhstan Airplay (TopHit)[200] 8 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[201] 6 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[202] 35 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[203] 7 Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)[204] 10 Portugal (AFP)[205] 120 Russia Airplay (TopHit)[206] 20 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[207] 21 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[208] 9 UK Singles (OCC)[209]Counted for the original Disturbed version 95 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[210] 59

Certifications

[edit] Certifications for "The Sound of Silence" by Disturbed

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[211]	8× Platinum	560,000‡
Austria (IFPI Austria)[212]	Platinum	30,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[213]	Diamond	800,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[214]	3× Platinum	270,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[215]	Diamond	1,000,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[216]	Platinum	50,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[217]	5× Platinum	150,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[218]	2× Platinum	120,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[219]	2× Diamond	500,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[220]	Gold	30,000‡
Sweden (GLF)[221]	2× Platinum	80,000‡
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[222]	Gold	15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[223]	3× Platinum	1,800,000‡
United States (RIAA)[224]	9× Platinum	9,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Certifications for "The Sound of Silence" (Cyril Remix) by Disturbed

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[225]	2× Platinum	140,000‡
Belgium (BRMA)[226]	Platinum	40,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[227]	Platinum	80,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[228]	2× Platinum	180,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[229]	Gold	15,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[230]	Gold	5,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[231]	Platinum	60,000‡
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[232]	Platinum	30,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Paul Simon solo versions

[edit]

"The Sound of Silence"
Single by Paul Simon
from the album Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin'
Released	1974 (1974)
Genre	Folk rock
Length	4:21
Label	Columbia Records
Songwriter	Paul Simon
Producer	Paul Simon
Paul Simon singles chronology
"Take Me to the Mardi Gras" (1974) "The Sound of Silence" (1974) "Gone at Last" (1975)

Paul Simon released a solo acoustic version of "The Sound of Silence" in the spring of 1974. His version reached No. 84 in Canada[57] and No. 97 on the US Cash Box chart.[53] It was also a minor Adult Contemporary hit (US No. 50, Canada No. 42).[58][56]

Simon had previously recorded a solo acoustic version of the song on his debut solo album The Paul Simon Songbook, released in 1965 in the UK only, and not widely available in the U.S. until its release as part of a retrospective box set in the 1980s.

Legacy

[edit]

In 1999, BMI named "The Sound of Silence" as the 18th most-performed song of the 20th century.[233] In 2004, it was ranked No. 156 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, one of the duo's three songs on the list. The song is now considered "the quintessential folk rock release".[234]

In 2004, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[235]

In popular culture

[edit]

When director Mike Nichols and Sam O'Steen were editing the 1967 film The Graduate, they initially timed some scenes to this song, intending to substitute original music for the scenes. However, they eventually concluded that an adequate substitute could not be found and decided to purchase the rights for the song for the soundtrack. This was an unusual decision, as the song had charted more than a year earlier, and recycling established music for film was not commonly done at the time.[236]

The Canadian band Rush alluded to the song lyrics in the last lines of their 1980 song "The Spirit of Radio".[237]

In 2017, the song re-emerged on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs Chart at No. 6, due to its use in a YouTube video and meme involving Ben Affleck's facial expression during an interview about his film Batman v Superman, dubbed "Sad Affleck".[238]

References

[edit]

1. ^ Kruth, John (2015). This Bird Has Flown: The Enduring Beauty of Rubber Soul, Fifty Years On. Milwaukee: Backbeat Books. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-61713-573-6.
2. ^ Mastropolo, Frank (March 10, 2015). "51 Years Ago: Simon & Garfunkel Record Their First Classic, 'The Sounds of Silence'". Ultimate Classic Rock.
3. ^ a b Eliot 2010, p. 39.
4. ^ Michael Hall (January 6, 2014). "The Greatest Music Producer You've Never Heard of Is..." Texas Monthly. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
5. ^ a b c d Eliot 2010, p. 40.
6. ^ Eliot 2010, p. 42.
7. ^ Brett Zongker (March 21, 2013). "'The Sound of Silence' by Simon and Garfunkel saved for the future". The Independent.
8. ^ Eliot 2010.
9. ^ "Paul Simon - Interview - 7/6/1986 (Official)". YouTube. September 25, 2014. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
10. ^ Paul Simon chats about his youth. YouTube. April 19, 2011. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020.
11. ^ Schwartz, Tony (February 1984). "Playboy Interview" (PDF). Playboy. 31 (2): 49–51, 162–176. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 8, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
12. ^ Fornatale 2007, p. 38.
13. ^ "Art Garfunkel's Beloved Blind College Roommate Awards $3 Million to Scientists to Cure Blindness". People.com. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
14. ^ "Original versions of The Sound of Silence by the Bachelors [IE]". SecondHandSongs.
15. ^ Eliot 2010, p. 47.
16. ^ Eliot 2010, p. 48.
17. ^ Eliot 2010, p. 53.
18. ^ Eliot 2010, p. 58.
19. ^ Bennighof, James (2007). The Words and Music of Paul Simon. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 9–11. ISBN 978-0-275-99163-0. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
20. ^ "Simon & Garfunkel "The Sound of Silence" Sheet Music in D Minor (transposable)". Musicnotes.com. September 14, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
21. ^ a b c Eliot 2010, p. 64.
22. ^ Bosso, Joe (August 1, 2012). "Interview: Art Garfunkel on his new greatest hits CD, The Singer". MusicRadar.
23. ^ a b c d e Sullivan, Steve (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 2. pp. 109–110.
24. ^ a b c d Simons, David. Studio Stories. pp. 95–96.
25. ^ a b Eliot 2010, p. 65.
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Bibliography

[edit]

• Eliot, Marc (2010). Paul Simon: A Life. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-43363-8.
• Fornatale, Pete (2007). Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends. Rodale. ISBN 978-1-59486-427-8.

External links

[edit]

• Paul Simon - The Sound of Silence on YouTube
• Simon and Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence on YouTube

v t e Simon & Garfunkel
Paul Simon Art Garfunkel
Studio albums	Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. Sounds of Silence Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Bookends Bridge over Troubled Water
Live albums	The Concert in Central Park Live from New York City, 1967 Old Friends: Live on Stage Live 1969
Compilation albums	Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits The Simon and Garfunkel Collection 20 Greatest Hits The Definitive Simon and Garfunkel The Best of Simon and Garfunkel Two Can Dream Alone Tales from New York: The Very Best of Simon & Garfunkel Tom & Jerry The Essential Simon & Garfunkel
Box sets	Collected Works Old Friends The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970) The Collection: Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel: The Complete Albums Collection
Soundtrack albums	The Graduate
Videos	The Concert in Central Park Old Friends: Live on Stage
Discographies	Simon & Garfunkel Art Garfunkel Paul Simon
Other	Songs recorded Paul Simon solo albums Paul Simon songs Art Garfunkel solo albums Bridge over Troubled Water (Paul Desmond album)
Category

v t e Simon & Garfunkel singles
Discography List of songs recorded
Sounds of Silence	"The Sound of Silence" / "We've Got a Groovey Thing Goin'" "I Am a Rock" / "Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall"
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme	"Homeward Bound" / "Leaves That Are Green" "The Dangling Conversation" / "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" / "April Come She Will"
Bookends	"A Hazy Shade of Winter" / "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" "At the Zoo" / "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" "Fakin' It" / "You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies" "Mrs. Robinson" / "Old Friends" / "Bookends"
Bridge overTroubled Water	"The Boxer" / "Baby Driver" "Bridge over Troubled Water" / "Keep the Customer Satisfied" "Cecilia" / "The Only Living Boy in New York" "El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could)" / "Why Don't You Write Me"
Other singles	"America" "My Little Town" "Wake Up Little Susie"
Other songs	"Richard Cory" "Patterns" "A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)" "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" "Save the Life of My Child" "Overs" "Punky's Dilemma" "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" "Voices of Old People"
Category

v t e Paul Simon songs
Discography
The Paul Simon Songbook	"I Am a Rock" "Leaves That Are Green" "April Come She Will" "The Sound of Silence" "A Simple Desultory Philippic" "Patterns"
Paul Simon	"Mother and Child Reunion" "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" "Duncan"
There Goes Rhymin' Simon	"Kodachrome" "Loves Me Like a Rock" "American Tune" "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" "Something So Right" "St. Judy's Comet"
Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin'	"The Sound of Silence"
Still Crazy After All These Years	"Gone at Last" "My Little Town" "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" "Still Crazy After All These Years"
Greatest Hits, Etc.	"Slip Slidin' Away" "Stranded in a Limousine"
One-Trick Pony	"Late in the Evening" "One-Trick Pony" "Oh, Marion"
Hearts and Bones	"Allergies" "The Late Great Johnny Ace" "Think Too Much"
Graceland	"You Can Call Me Al" "Graceland" "The Boy in the Bubble" "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" "Under African Skies" "Homeless"
The Rhythm of the Saints	"The Obvious Child" "Proof" "Born at the Right Time"
You're the One	"Old" "You're the One"
Surprise	"Father and Daughter" "That's Me" "Outrageous"
So Beautiful or So What	"Getting Ready for Christmas Day" "The Afterlife"
Stranger to Stranger	"Wristband" "Cool Papa Bell" "The Werewolf"
Featured singles	"Wonderful World" "The Blues" "The Boxer" "New York Is My Home"
Other songs	"Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War" "Thelma"
Category

v t e The Bachelors
Studio albums	The Bachelors and 16 Great Songs
Songs	"(I'll Be with You) In Apple Blossom Time" "Charmaine" "Far Away Places" "Diane" "I Believe" "Ramona" "I Wouldn't Trade You for the World" "No Arms Can Ever Hold You" "In the Chapel in the Moonlight" "Hello, Dolly!" "The Sound of Silence" "The Unicorn" "I'll Walk with God" "Turn Around, Look at Me" "Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" "With These Hands"

v t e Disturbed
Dan Donegan Mike Wengren David Draiman John Moyer Steve "Fuzz" Kmak Erich Awalt
Studio albums	The Sickness Believe Ten Thousand Fists Indestructible Asylum Immortalized Evolution Divisive
Compilation albums	The Lost Children
Live albums & DVDs	M.O.L. Music as a Weapon II Live & Indestructible Indestructible in Germany
Singles	"Stupify" "Down with the Sickness" "Voices" "The Game" "Prayer" "Remember" "Liberate" "Guarded" "Stricken" "Just Stop" "Land of Confusion" "Ten Thousand Fists" "Inside the Fire" "Perfect Insanity" "Indestructible" "The Night" "Another Way to Die" "The Animal" "Warrior" "Hell" "3" "The Vengeful One" "Immortalized" "The Light" "The Sound of Silence" "Are You Ready" "A Reason to Fight"
Concert tours	Music as a Weapon Indestructible Tour Asylum Tour
Related articles	Discography Awards and nominations Device Fight or Flight
Category

v t e Ray Conniff
Albums	'S Wonderful! (1956) Dance the Bop! (1957) 'S Marvelous (1957) 'S Awful Nice (1958) Concert in Rhythm (1958) Conniff Meets Butterfield (1959) Christmas with Conniff (1959) Young at Heart (1960) Say It with Music (A Touch of Latin) (1960) Memories Are Made of This (1960) Broadway in Rhythm (1961) So Much in Love (1961) 'S Continental (1962) We Wish You a Merry Christmas (1962) Here We Come A-Caroling (1965) Happiness Is (1966) Somewhere My Love (1966) It Must Be Him (1967) This Is My Song (1967) Honey (1968) His Orchestra, His Chorus, His Singers, His Sound (1969) Christmas Caroling (1984)
Singles	"'S Wonderful" "Blue Moon" "If I Knew Then" "Somewhere My Love" "Cabaret" "The Sound of Silence" "I've Got My Eyes on You"

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