Talk:The Sounds of Silence (song)

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[edit] Christian images

hmmm

Both Simon and Garfunkel were Jewish, so saying that The Sound of Silence is stock-full of Christian images is not exactly accurate, considering that they were both practicing Jews. Saying "religious" imagery may be a better way.

Not sure. They both were brought up as Jews but didn't Simon have a song called "Jesus is the Answer"? Will look this up, worried cf. Norman Greenbaum. Also worth pointing out that there's no good reason why Christ allegories can't be used by non-Christians. See The Matrix.Matthew Platts 9 July 2005 17:02 (UTC)

I've wondered this too, and have left a note at Talk:Paul Simon asking about his religious affiliation. There are other songs on "Wednesday Morning 3 AM" that are distinctly Christian, much more obviously so than "The Sound of Silence": "You Can Tell The World", "Benedictus", "Go Tell It On The Mountain". Of course, S&G didn't write those songs, but they did choose to sing them. --Angr/tɔk tə mi 09:42, 19 July 2005 (UTC)


Most of the things on the internet, especially the interviews with S&G say that the song is about alienation and society's inability to communicate on an emotional level. As a Christian, I really do not see any link to the book of Exodus here. Yes, there is a little "religious" language, but it's a poetic thing - it provides a wonderful contrast between the light and dark, the gentle and the harsh. These are the bigger themes in the song.

I think there is some religious imagery, but most of it is about Prophets and God in general. I think Tanakh or maybe Old Testament, if he had become Christian, imagery is possible. I don't recall thinking any of it is specifically about Christ though and I've heard this song my whole life.(My parents were fans of this group and also quite strongly Catholic so I think they would've picked up on such a thing)--T. Anthony 15:22, 5 December 2005 (UTC)
I altered that section. I know I have no source for this, but I think it reads as more justifiable to the song.--T. Anthony 15:13, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

The "Bowed and prayed to the neon god they made" bit kind of reminded me of the whole Golden Calf debacle in the Old Testament, but I didn't really think that's what it was actually supposed to be about. I just figured it represented the "shiny objects" that distract us from one another.--71.229.77.97 (talk) 18:59, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Full Lyrics?

Is there any reason why this article shouldn't contain the entire lyrics for this song?--User:Gravinos 02:31, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Unless there is any objection, I'm going to add the full lyrics of the song to this article. I will wait one week for any objections to my proposal before carrying it out. If no one voices their objections on this page, I will take it as a sign that there are none. --User:Gravinos 02:31, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
That would be copyright violation; there is already an external link to the lyrics. The lyrics already on the page might be too much already, I am not sure. BryanOU 22:45, 9 August 2006 (UTC)
Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs#Lyrics_and_music_videos states that we shouldn't put lyrics on the main pages, as they are most likely copyrighted already. I think we'd have to show that they aren't copyrighted in order to actually post them. Banaticus 04:18, 17 September 2006 (UTC)
Well I'm glad they're there. Leave them. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.122.208.51 (talk) 15:19, 1 February 2007 (UTC).
I've removed the lyrics for the aforementioned copyright reasons. If people really want to find them, they're out there, and it's a clear copyright violation. El Zoof 04:27, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Quotes

This whole section is based on quotes found on a webpage with no references or citations. Can we please find sources for any of these?

[edit] Title is wrong.

It's "Sounds" not "Sound" Zazaban 05:02, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Actually, it is "Sound", and this controversy should be noted in the article. The original name is "The Sound of Silence", then when Bob Wilson reissued the "electric" version, it was renamed "The Sounds of Silence", and as such it was known for many years, till Paul Simon finally got to unify the title in every S&G record, back to the original title. Nazroon 00:27, 19 February 2007 (UTC)
To confirm this, yes, the song is "The Sound of Silence," but this fact was not acertained with certainty until the 1990s. I want to say that it was when the Old Friends box set came out. I'll have to dig out my copy of the box set, but I remember the essay in that box said that a lot of research, going back to the original copyright registration, handwritten lyrics and the like, was involved in determining the song's true title. Even on Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., the song was listed as "The Sounds of Silence" with an S, and the 45, the later LP of the same name, the Greatest Hits album and even Live Rhymin' had it with an S. I don't advocate changing the name of the page, but I'd think there needs to be a redirect reflecting that most people know the song (incorrectly) as "The Sounds of Silence". Cheemo 04:34, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Problem with authorship of song

From the first paragraph: It was written by Paul Simon in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

From History section: This song, contrary to all popular belief, was not written by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Like many other Simon and Garfunkel songs, it was written by a man under contract with them who would ask for his time to be witheld.

These two bits of information can't both be right. WHICH ONE is right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wendingwanderer (talk • contribs) 00:51, August 26, 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Inconsistencies

This article states in the opening section that the song reached #1 on New Years Day 1966 (Jan 1, 1966). Later in the article, it states that it reached Number One on US charts late 1965, and early 1966, causing them to reunite. It then states that their next album 'Sound of Silence' was hastily recorded Dec 1965 - Jan 1966. How could they do this without being back together which didn't happen until at least 1966? Donnyj (talk) 22:55, 29 April 2008 (UTC)Donnyj

The article is wrong. I'll fix it. Simon & Garfunkel reunited in December 1965, primarily to record most of the tracks for Sounds Of Silence. The original track of Simon & Garfunkel's vocals and acoustic guitar of "The Sounds of Silence" single was from Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., recorded 10 March 1964. Tom Wilson held an overdub session on 15 June 1965 to record the electric guitar, bass, and drums for the single track. The B-side "We've Got A Groovey Thing Goin'" was recorded on 5 April 1965. The single was released in September 1965. Once the single entered the charts in the fall of 1965, Simon returned to the USA from Europe, where he had been performing solo for several months prior. See my page here: [1] Absecon 59 (talk) 12:20, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Another Cover

Burton C. Bells side project, Ascension of the Watchers, covered the song on their CD Numinosum —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.91.144.11 (talk) 12:03, 5 May 2008 (UTC)