Paul Simon skrev den för 46 år sedan. I februari 1964. Att den fortfarande känns som ett slag i magen är på något sätt både ett geniförklarande av Paul Simon och ett underkännande åt mänskligheten. Jag känner att den sammanfattar ganska mycket av vad jag känner efter att ha levt i snart 39 år. Därför utser jag den från och med nu till min officiella nationalsång.
Det handlar förstås om The Sound of Silence. Världens bästa låt.
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
