*The Sound of Silence was initially titled The Sounds of Silence
Single:
The Sound of Silence first entered the Australian singles chart* on 8 January 1966 and peaked at #3. A later re-release entered the singles chart on 1 March 1969 and peaked at #23. The song was #50 on the Top 100 of 1966.
Albums:
The song was first released on Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. and a re-mixed version was on Sounds of Silence.
Songwriter:
Paul Simon
Producer:
Tom Wilson
Record label of Australian release:
CBS
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
The Concert in Central Park, recorded 19 September 1981:
Acoustic version from Simon & Garfunkel’s first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM:
BONUS CLIP BELOW: The Sound of Silence by Disturbed
Wikipedia:
The song’s origin and basis remain unclear, with multiple answers coming forward over the years. Many believe that the song commented on the John F. Kennedy assassination, as the song was recorded three months after the assassination. Simon stated unambiguously in interviews, however, “I wrote The Sound of Silence when I was 21 years old”, which places the timeframe 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.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Silence
Songfacts:
The first recording was an acoustic version on Simon & Garfunkel’s first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, which was billed as “exciting new sounds in the folk tradition,” and sold about 2000 copies. When the album tanked, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel split up. What they didn’t know was that their record company had a plan. Trying to take advantage of the folk-rock movement, Columbia Records had producer Tom Wilson add electric instruments to the acoustic track, and released it as a single. Simon and Garfunkel had no idea their acoustic song had been overdubbed with electric instruments, but it became a huge hit and got them back together.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/simon-garfunkel/the-sound-of-silence
Lyrics:
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
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 60s
Find more songs to enjoy: Bang a Gong song finder
BONUS CLIP
A 2015 version by Disturbed is often acknowledged as a worthy cover of The Sound of Silence:
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