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 deared

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 signs said, The words of the prophets

are written on the subway walls

And tenement halls.

And whisper’d in the sounds of silence.

黑暗，老朋友，我來了

又想同你談談

突然有一種幻覺悄悄來臨

趁著我入睡時播下了種子

那些個在我腦海中不停滋生的幻覺啊

還仍然滯留在寂寞之聲中

在永無休止的夢裡

我孤獨地行走在

狹窄的佈滿圓石的路上

行走在路燈的光暈下

感到有點寒冷潮溼

於是我翻豎起衣領

那盞刺痛我雙眼的霓紅燈

劃破了夜晚

觸到了寂寞的音符

在那無遮蔽的燈光下

我看見成千上萬的人

也許更多

人們無聲地訴說著

人們無語地傾聽著

他們寫出一首首歌曲

卻沒有一個人去唱

沒有人敢

驚擾寂寞沉睡時的輕夢

我說：你們這群傻子啊

難道不知道寂寞的癌細胞正在擴散嗎

好好記住我教你們的話

握緊我伸給你們的手臂

可惜我的話只如同雨滴無聲地落下

迴盪在寂靜的深井裡

看人們朝著象徵神聖的氖燈低頭祈禱

而霓紅燈廣告牌卻在諷刺地一閃一閃

發出這樣的警告：

“先哲的預言就在地道下的牆上

就寫在貧民們的住房裡”

還依舊在一片禱告的寂靜中喃喃地低語