Simon & Garfunkel's
Sounds Of Silence

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Album information

Album title: Sounds Of Silence
Date of album release: January 17, 1966
Album producer: Bob Johnston
Entrance of album to Billboard Pop Chart: February 19, 1966
Highest position held by album in Billboard Pop Chart: #21
Number of songs: 11
Notes: The United Kingdom release of Sounds Of Silence included 12 tracks. The 12th track, being "Homeward Bound", was slotted between "Anji" and "Richard Cory". "Homeward Bound" was featured on the United States release of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme and is the same version that is on the UK release of Sounds Of Silence.

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Album synopsis

     Sounds Of Silence is Simon & Garfunkel's second recorded album, but the first album that sold well both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. The Sounds Of Silence album was released in January 1966. The eleven album songs capture the essence of folk rock music from the opening song ("The Sound Of Silence") carried through with "Blessed", "Richard Cory", "Kathy's Song", and ending with "I Am A Rock". Each song has some universal (contemporary) message--not a preaching message, but songs that convey messages of alienation, communication, love, society, and death. Along with these messages, a poetical style of writing is incorporated to give these songs the element of "folk music".
     With the exception of "Anji", all the songs (music and lyrics) are written and composed by Paul Simon. "Anji" is a guitar composition by English jazzist David Graham. Notably, Sounds Of Silence is the first album in which both Simon and Garfunkel have their own solo songs: Simon proclaims his love in "Kathy's Song" and Garfunkel sings the lullaby of "April Come She Will".


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Track listing

Click on a song title to view the respective lyrics.

Track listing and approximate lengths (mins:secs):

  1. The Sound Of Silence
  2. Leaves That Are Green
  3. Blessed
  4. Kathy's Song
  5. Somewhere They Can't Find Me
  6. Anji (Instrumental)
  7. Richard Cory
  8. A Most Peculiar Man
  9. April Come She Will
  10. We Got A Groovey Thing Goin'
  11. I Am A Rock
3:07
2:22
3:15
3:20
2:36
2:16
2:56
2:32
1:50
1:59
2:49

Total time: 29:02
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Track One: The Sound Of Silence
by Paul Simon
(c) 1964 Paul Simon (BMI)

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 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 signs said,
"The words of the prophets
   are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence."

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Track Two: Leaves That Are Green
by Paul Simon
(c) 1965 Paul Simon (BMI)

I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song.
I'm twenty-two now but I won't be for long
Time hurries on.
And the leaves that are green turn to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

Once my heart was filled with the love of a girl.
I held her close, but she faded in the night
Like a poem I meant to write.
And the leaves that are green turn to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

I threw a pebble in a brook
And watched the ripples run away
And they never made a sound.
And the leaves that are green turn to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello,
Good-bye, Good-bye, Good-bye, Good-bye,
That's all there is.
And the leaves that are green turn to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

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Track Three: Blessed
by Paul Simon
(c) 1966 Paul Simon (BMI)

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit.
Blessed is the lamb whose blood flows.
Blessed are the sat upon, spat upon, ratted on,
O Lord, Why have you forsaken me?
I got no place to go,
I've walked around Soho for the last night or so.
Ah, but it doesn't matter, no.

Blessed is the land and the kingdom.
Blessed is the man whose soul belongs to.
Blessed are the meth drinkers, pot sellers, illusion dwellers.
O Lord, Why have you forsaken me?
My words trickle down from a wound
That I have no intention to heal.

Blessed are the stained glass, windowpane glass.
Blessed is the church service makes me nervous
Blessed are the penny rookers, cheap hookers, groovy lookers.
O Lord, Why have you forsaken me?
I have tended my own garden
Much too long.

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Track Four: Kathy's Song
by Paul Simon
(c) 1965 Paul Simon (BMI)

I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm continuing
Tapping on my roof and walls.

And from the shelter of my mind
Through the window of my eyes
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To England where my heart lies.

My mind's distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you're asleep
And kiss you when you start your day.

And as a song I was writing is left undone
I don't know why I spend my time
Writing songs I can't believe
With words that tear and strain to rhyme.

And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you.

And as I watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die
I know that I am like the rain
There but for the grace of you go I.

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Track Five: Somewhere They Can't Find Me
by Paul Simon
(c) 1966 Paul Simon (BMI)

I can hear the soft breathing of the
   girl that I love,
As she lies here beside me
   asleep with the night.
Her hair in a fine mist floats on my pillow,
Reflecting the flow of the winter moonlight.

But I've got to creep down the alleyway,
Fly down the highway,
Before they come to catch me I'll be gone.
Somewhere they can't find me.

Oh baby, you don't know what I've done,
I've committed a crime, I've broken the law.
While you were here sleeping and just
   dreaming of me,
I held up and robbed a liquor store.

But I've got to creep down the alleyway,
Fly down the highway,
Before they come to catch me I'll be gone.
Somewhere they can't find me.

Oh my life seems unreal, my crime an illusion,
A scene badly written in which I must play.
And though it puts me uptight to leave you,
I know it's not right to leave you,
When morning is just a few hours away.

But I've got to creep down the alleyway,
Fly down the highway,
Before they come to catch me I'll be gone.
Somewhere they can't find me.

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Track Six: Anji (Instrumental)
by David Graham
(c) 1965 Young Music Ltd. (London, England)

(Instrumental)

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Track Seven: Richard Cory
by Paul Simon
(c) 1966 Paul Simon (BMI)

They say that Richard Cory owns one half
   of this whole town,
With political connections to spread
   his wealth around.
Born into society, a banker's only child,
He had everything a man could want:
   power, grace and style.

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.

The papers print his picture almost
   everywhere he goes:
Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory
   at a show.
And the rumor of his parties and the
   orgies on his yacht!
Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got.

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.

He freely gave to charity, he had
   the common touch,
And they were grateful for his patronage and
   thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the
   evening headlines read:
"Richard Cory went home last night and
   put a bullet through his head."

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.

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Track Eight: A Most Peculiar Man
by Paul Simon
(c) 1965 Paul Simon (BMI)

He was a most peculiar man.
That's what Mrs. Riordan said
   and she should know;
She lived upstairs from him
She said he was a most peculiar man.

He was a most peculiar man.
He lived all alone within a house,
Within a room, within himself,
A most peculiar man.

He had no friends, he seldom spoke
And no one in turn ever spoke to him,
'Cause he wasn't friendly and he didn't care
And he wasn't like them.
Oh, no! he was a most peculiar man.

He died last Saturday.
He turned on the gas and he went to sleep
With the windows closed so he'd never wake up
To his silent world and his tiny room;
And Mrs. Riordan says he has
   a brother somewhere
Who should be notified soon.
And all the people said, "What a shame
   that he's dead,
But wasn't he a most peculiar man?"

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Track Nine: April Come She Will
by Paul Simon
(c) 1965 Paul Simon (BMI)

April come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain;
May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again.

June, she'll change her tune,
In restless walks she'll prowl the night;
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold;
September I'll remember.
A love once new has now grown old.

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Track Ten: We Got A Groovey Thing Goin'
by Paul Simon
(c) 1966 Paul Simon (BMI)

Bad news, bad news!
I heard you're packing to leave!
I come arunning right over;
I just couldn't believe it,
I just couldn't believe it.

Oh, baby, baby
You must be out of your mind.
Do you know what you're kicking away?
We've got a groovey thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovey thing.

I never done you no wrong,
I never hit you when you're down,
I always gave you good loving,
I never ran around,
I never ran around.

Oh, baby, baby
You must be out of your mind.
Do you know what you're kicking away?
We've got a groovey thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovey thing.

There's something you ought to know
If you're fixing to go,
I can't make it without you;
No no no no, no, no, no, no,
No no no no, no, no, no.

Oh, baby, baby
You must be out of your mind.
Do you know what you're kicking away?
We've got a groovey thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovey thing.

We've got a groovey thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovey thing.

We've got a groovey thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovey thing.

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Track Eleven: I Am A Rock
by Paul Simon
(c) 1965 Paul Simon (BMI)

A winter's day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship;
   friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don't talk of love,
But I've heard the words before;
It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings
   that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

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