Hello Darkness

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” ----Martin Luther King.
This is the sound of silence: the quiet undercurrent of a revolution, the calm before the storm. To me, this song also represents the improper communication with our mind. People get a majority of their thoughts from screens i.e. neon gods. If we do not listen to our hearts, and we have no ideas of our own, we will run after things as dictated by screens our whole life. Because we have no idea what we really want and where our happiness lies, we feel hollow inside. This hollowness (cancer) grows bigger, but still nobody wants to touch that sound of silence (mind) and we look outward of ourselves for a solution even though the solution is inside of us. The darkness is not literal but spiritual: it is the darkness of oppression. However the oppression is so entrenched it is almost like a blanket. It is being accepted not fought. It is a shared belief that enables enlightened people to see what others can't. The last verse of Bob Dylan's “Blowing in the Wind” has a kind of osmosis with "The Sound of Silence".
In the dime stores and bus stations
People talk of situations
Read books, repeat quotations
Draw conclusions on the wall ----Bob Dylan. (Love minus Zero)
In the end the silence defeated us all. By refusing to fight the silence we had become deaf, not just to each other but to ourselves. This is not loneliness but isolation. Silence has a sound. It is the sound of oppression.

According to National Rock Review: The original acoustic version of The Sound of Silence made its appearance during the rise of folk rock (1964). The gentle harmonies and acoustic guitar easily captured the attention of a nation during a time of growing social tension (Vietnam). The song’s deep emotion draws in the listener taking them on a journey of deep contemplation.  The Disturbed remake offers everything the original did and more. The remake is haunting, slower, and darker. Disturbed vocalist David Draiman, typically known for his raspy, power metal voice, sings beautifully; his voice is crisp and clear.  The first verse opens with light piano and gentle vocals. Draiman sings softly almost to the point of being a whisper, his vocals floating over the simple piano notes. Strings join in, almost hesitantly, towards the end. As the track progresses, it builds upon itself.  The second and third verses raise the profile of the song. The strings increase in both volume and depth. Light percussion eases into the background. The acoustic guitar and piano feature more prominently. Draiman maintains clean vocals, easily striking the familiar notes as the power of his voice begins to make itself known.  The fourth verse is where Draiman’s vocal power becomes evident, the raspy edge creeping in; he builds tension adding a sense of urgency as if restrained only by the pace of the song.  The Sound of Silence closes with a crescendo of instrument and voice. The listener stirred by the somber anthem is left hanging on wistful yearning.  The visual canvas of the music video matches the feel of the song. Dark, grayscale images of a bleak landscape are punctuated by closeups of Draiman’s face as he sings. The imagery is surreal suggesting a return of music to a forlorn society. While it may seem over the top to some, it is a fitting backdrop for this moving hymn.