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.
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 shared.
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 lead 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 sounds of silence."
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 shared.
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 lead 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 sounds of silence."
When I discussed Bridge Over Troubled Water I apparently claimed that Simon & Garfunkel are rather bland. What utter bullshit! I do not like that song very much, but if you can make a song like The Sound of Silence you don't ever deserve to be called bland. The song allowed me to discuss a silent movie for the first time on this blog, yet a silent movie in which sound plays an important role.
The Movie: Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
It is quite ironic that the Charles Chaplin's most iconic and enduring scene has become his famous, and justly revered, speech from The Great Dictator. The scene is filmed in one shot with hardly any movement in it, and its power lies in Chaplin's words. In other words, it's a shot that bears exactly none of the characteristics that made Chaplin famous and beloved. Besides that Chaplin hated the advent of recorded sound in movies, and he continued to make silent movies as long as he could. Modern Times was his last, and was made in an era when sound films had become the norm. Modern Times is not completely silent though. Chaplin uses sound at certain moments in the movie, and from the way he uses it is clear that he hates it. Yet that's exactly one of the reasons this movie is so interesting. Chaplin for much of the movie connects sound to unpleasantness. Sound is used to exploit the workers, such as during the brilliant scene with the feeding machine. It is used every time police cars arrive to arrest someone, thereby conflating it with the loss of freedom. It is most hilariously used anytime someone clanks his head, obviously connecting it to pain. And it could be argued that at the end of the movie Chaplin has made peace with the advent of sound, when during one of the most pleasant scenes of the movie he sings a song, This must have been quite special for audiences in 1936. For many of them this was probably the first time they ever heard Chaplin's voice. Chaplin realizes this and the scene gets a proper, suspenseful built up. Until he starts singing you are not entirely sure, whether he is really going to do it.
Chaplin's use of sound in the movie is connected to his larger idea that modern technology dehumanizes people. This argument has been made by various people throughout history, and is one I am really not very sympathetic to. The modern equivalent of this are those claims that social media actually individualize us. Ideally technological developments should improve our lives, and most would if we used them correctly. For example the conveyor line that's criticized by Chaplin in Modern Times. That should ideally make labor conditions for the workers better, not worse. After all, because of it products can be made faster and easier. For the conveyor line workers in Modern Times life is hard, and they are exploited by their bosses. This leads to Chaplin becoming ill. That's all pretty horrible, but it is not the fault of the conveyor belt, it's the fault of their awful bosses, who are driven by power and greed. If it wasn't for the conveyor belt they would exploit their employees in other ways. And it is this last part that Chaplin doesn't seem to understand. What makes Chaplin great though is that all of this doesn't really matter. He knows how to express this ideas in a funny and interesting way. The movie begins with a long scene at the aforementioned conveyor belt, which is extraordinary funny, and it has many other similar scenes. But what makes the movie really special that within all that comedy there is hidden a rather dark and emphatic drama about the horrific effects of poverty.
The Movie: Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
It is quite ironic that the Charles Chaplin's most iconic and enduring scene has become his famous, and justly revered, speech from The Great Dictator. The scene is filmed in one shot with hardly any movement in it, and its power lies in Chaplin's words. In other words, it's a shot that bears exactly none of the characteristics that made Chaplin famous and beloved. Besides that Chaplin hated the advent of recorded sound in movies, and he continued to make silent movies as long as he could. Modern Times was his last, and was made in an era when sound films had become the norm. Modern Times is not completely silent though. Chaplin uses sound at certain moments in the movie, and from the way he uses it is clear that he hates it. Yet that's exactly one of the reasons this movie is so interesting. Chaplin for much of the movie connects sound to unpleasantness. Sound is used to exploit the workers, such as during the brilliant scene with the feeding machine. It is used every time police cars arrive to arrest someone, thereby conflating it with the loss of freedom. It is most hilariously used anytime someone clanks his head, obviously connecting it to pain. And it could be argued that at the end of the movie Chaplin has made peace with the advent of sound, when during one of the most pleasant scenes of the movie he sings a song, This must have been quite special for audiences in 1936. For many of them this was probably the first time they ever heard Chaplin's voice. Chaplin realizes this and the scene gets a proper, suspenseful built up. Until he starts singing you are not entirely sure, whether he is really going to do it.
Chaplin's use of sound in the movie is connected to his larger idea that modern technology dehumanizes people. This argument has been made by various people throughout history, and is one I am really not very sympathetic to. The modern equivalent of this are those claims that social media actually individualize us. Ideally technological developments should improve our lives, and most would if we used them correctly. For example the conveyor line that's criticized by Chaplin in Modern Times. That should ideally make labor conditions for the workers better, not worse. After all, because of it products can be made faster and easier. For the conveyor line workers in Modern Times life is hard, and they are exploited by their bosses. This leads to Chaplin becoming ill. That's all pretty horrible, but it is not the fault of the conveyor belt, it's the fault of their awful bosses, who are driven by power and greed. If it wasn't for the conveyor belt they would exploit their employees in other ways. And it is this last part that Chaplin doesn't seem to understand. What makes Chaplin great though is that all of this doesn't really matter. He knows how to express this ideas in a funny and interesting way. The movie begins with a long scene at the aforementioned conveyor belt, which is extraordinary funny, and it has many other similar scenes. But what makes the movie really special that within all that comedy there is hidden a rather dark and emphatic drama about the horrific effects of poverty.
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