Disturbed - The Sound Of Silence

I'm generally not fond of heavy metal or alternate rock which is why my alarm radio is tuned to a station essentially playing nothing but (It is not easy to pry me from my bed in the morning so music and a DJ against my grain is a tremendous help :P). Generally, I'm also not fond of cover versions of a song especially when the original carries a big heap of meaning to me (just a personal preference of course) - don't mess with something that's perfect (in my view, that is). So this one is totally astonishing and unexpected ...

Disturbed, a heavy metal band from Chicago, has done a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" which I discovered -how else- because it played on the alarm radio one morning. It had me wide awake and singing along in my mind about four bars in ... And while I still dearly love the original I think that David Draiman's voice and interpretation fits perfectly ~

The Sound of Silence

By Johnny Keating

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 share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools" said I "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grow
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 subway walls
And tenement halls
And whisper'd
In the sounds of silence

Songwriters: PAUL SIMON

© Universal Music Publishing Group
For non-commercial use only.