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 turn 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 shared
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 sound of silence

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 in 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 in the wind
And they crumble in your hand

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

Hello, hello, hello, hello
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
That's all there is
And the leaves that are green turn to brown
And they wither in the wind
And they crumble in your hand

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, window pane 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

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 alseep
And kiss you when you start your day

And 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

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

But I've got to creep down the alley way
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 alley way
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
The morning is just a few hours away

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

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, 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 they 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, 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 was a most peculiar man
That's what Mrs. Riordan says 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?"

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

Bad news, bad news!
I heard you're packing to leave
I come a-running 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 groovy thing goin', baby
We've got a groovy 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 groovy thing goin', baby
We've got a groovy 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

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

We've got a groovy thing goin', baby
We've got a groovy thing

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
Well I've heard the word 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

Catch a boat to England, baby,
Maybe to Spain
Wherever I have gone,
Wherever I've been and gone
Wherever I have gone
The blues run the game

Send out for whiskey, baby,
Send out for gin
Me and room service, honey
Me and room service, babe
Me and room service, whoa
Living life a sin

When I ain't drinking, baby
You are on my mind
When I ain't sleeping, honey
When I ain't sleeping, momma
When I ain't sleeping, whoa
You know you'll find me crying

Catch a boat to England, baby,
Maybe to Spain
Wherever I have gone,
Wherever I've been and gone
Wherever I have gone
The blues run the game

Living is a gamble, baby
Loving's much the same
Wherever I have played
Wherever I throw those dice
Wherever I have played
The blues run the game

Maybe when I'm older, baby
Someplace down the line
I'll wake up older
So much older, momma
Wake up older
And I'll just stop all my trying

Catch a boat to England, baby,
Maybe to Spain
Wherever I have gone,
Wherever I've been and gone
Wherever I have gone
The blues are all the same

'Twas in the merry month of May
When green buds were a-swellin'
Sweet William on his deathbed lay
For the love of Barbriallen

He sent his servant to the town
The place where she did dwell in
Saying "Master dear has sent me here
If your name be Barbriallen"

Then slowly, slowly she got up
And slowly she went to him
And all she said when she got there
"Young man, I think you're dyin'"

"Oh, don't you remember the other day
When we were in the tavern
You drank your health to the ladies there
And you smited Barbriallen"

He turned his face unto the wall
He turned his back upon her
"Adieu, adieu to all my friends;
Be kind to Barbriallen"

She looked to the east, she looked to the west
She saw his corpse a-comin'
"Oh put him down for me," she cried,
"That I may gaze upon him"

The more she looked, the more she grieved
She bursted out in cryin'
"Oh, pick me up and carry me home
For I feel like I am dyin'"

They buried sweet Willie in the old churchyard
And Barbra in the new one
From Willie's grave, there grew a rose
From Barbra's, a green briar

They grew and they grew on the old church wall
And could not grow no higher
And there they tied in a true lover's knot
The rose bush and the briar

I'm a rambler; I'm a gambler
I'm a long way from my home
If you people don't like me
I can make out on my own

'Cause it's dark and it's raining
And the moon gives no light
And my pony can hardly travel
On this darkened road at night

You know, once I had a true love
Lord, her age was just sixteen
She was the flower of Belloton
And the rose of Aberdeen

But her parents did not like me
And now she feels much the same
If I'm written in your diary
Well, blot out my name

'Cause there's changes in the ocean
And there's changes in the sea
And there's changes in my own true love
But there ain't no change in me

I am a roving gambler
I gamble down in town
Wherever I meet with a deck of cards
I lay my money down
I lay my money down
I lay my money down

I had not been in Washington
Many more weeks than three
When I fell in love with a pretty little girl
She fell in love with me
She fell in love with me
She fell in love with me

She took me to her parlor
She cooled me with her fan
She whispered low in her mama's ear
"I love that gamblin' man
I love that gamblin' man
I love that gamblin' man"

"Oh Mother, dear Mother
Why do you treat me so?
The love I feel for the gambling man
No human tongue can tell
No human tongue can tell
No human tongue can tell"

"Oh daughter, dear daughter
[inaudible]
With a gambler go
With a gambler go
With a gambler go"

I've gambled down in Washington
I gambled down in Spain
I'm going down to Georgia
To gamble my last game
To gamble my last game
To gamble my last game

(Paul or Art: "Brakes on for Atlanta.")

I am a roving gambler
I've gambled down in town
Wherever I meet with a deck of cards
I lay my money down
I lay my money down
I lay my money down