RE: Sounds of Silence Revisited

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RE: Sounds of Silence Revisited

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violetmed (67)in #philosophy • 5 years ago

Never knew he composed that song in the dark in a bathroom! Very interesting. I didn't hide in the dark when I was upset as a kid, but I did hide somewhere - sometimes the bathroom and cry. Of course, my eyes were all red and my mom always knew I had been crying! I know I want to live in the light!

5 years ago in #philosophy by violetmed (67)

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mineopoly (64) 5 years ago

Right on!! It's good to remember the beautiful things about your mom. Paul Simon wrote the music first and yes in the bathroom. Later he wrote the words.

Simon stated unambiguously in interviews, however, "I wrote The Sound of Silence when I was 21 years old", which places the time frame firmly prior to the JFK tragedy, with Simon also explaining that the song was written in his bathroom, where he turned off the lights to better concentrate. "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'." In a more recent interview, Simon was directly asked, "How is a 21-year-old person thinkin' about the words in that song?" His reply was, "I have no idea." According to Garfunkel, the song was first developed in November, but Simon took three months to perfect the lyrics, which he claims were entirely written on February 19, 1964. Garfunkel once summed up the song's meaning as "the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly internationally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other."

Eliot, Marc (2010). Paul Simon: A Life. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-43363-8. Page 40

I am with you on living in the light.
Today I am reading Isaiah 49. It is among the songs of "The Servant of the Lord." It seems that Isaiah was discouraged because he did not see the remnant turn back to God. He received no honor or recognition for his lifetime of service as a prophet only persecution.

He is given these words:

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”