Sound of Silence

∥歌詞大意 ∥單字／文句解釋 ∥學習指引 ∥回歌手目錄∥參考資料∥相關連結∥版權∥

Sound of Silence
by Simon and Garfunkel

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 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 whisper'd in the sounds of silence.

歌詞大意：

這首歌是Paul Simon在1964年寫的，他與 Art Garfunkel所合唱。歌曲透過描寫一種關於大眾沈浸在沈默（盲目、壓制等象徵）之中的異象（Vision），來批判社會只知道盲目崇拜物質偶像（Neon god they made），不知道也不敢正視社會的真實面（例如地下鐵與廉價公寓中的窮人）。沈默變成一種聲音（sound of silence）讓大眾以為一切都還是正常。Paul Simon在美國社會正經歷如越戰、反種族歧視等社會動亂的年代寫這首歌，應該是希望社會能夠突破這些盲目與不合理的壓抑，而找到出路。

單字／文句解釋：﹙以下所列僅為最可能適切的中文解釋，讀者應自己查詢英漢或英英辭典）

Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again：作者把黑暗形容為自己的老朋友，暗指自己向來孤獨（可能是因為想法與社會一般人不同）。

a vision softly creeping ﹦a softly creeping vision 悄悄到來的異象。

　

I turned my collar to the cold and damp = I turned my collar up for the night was cold and damp 我把領子翻起以抵擋溼冷。

　

When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light that split the night and touched the sound of silence ：主要子句是第一句 I walked alone....這裡描寫眼睛被劃過夜空的霓虹燈的光線所刺射，由於霓虹燈在夜中閃爍，因此被形容成是碰觸寂靜的聲音（touched the sound of silence）。

naked light：（指的應該是上一段所描述的霓虹燈光）沒有遮掩因而刺眼的光，常常也指大白天。

　

People writing songs that voices never share ：人們寫歌但是卻是沒有聲音的歌。

　

Take my arms that I might reach you：拉我的手我才可能搆到你（救你）。

　

the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made：舊約聖經描寫摩西領猶太人出埃及要往上帝所應允的迦南美地，路中摩西上西乃山領取上帝的十誡與祝福時，他的兄弟亞倫與猶太人民因失去信心與耐心所以造了一個金牛犢偶像來代替上帝。這裡Paul Simon引用聖經典故，指責現代資本主義社會是追求眩目的物質享受（neon god）。

the sign flashed out its warning, in the words that it was forming：聖經中上帝在以洪水或大火等災難處罰其子民後往往就又發出慈悲心，與存活的猶太人立下約定只要人民順服祂將給予祝福。例如挪亞方舟的故事，彩虹變成立約的記號。這裡的記號（sign）也有超自然的神諭的含意（雖然不一定是猶太教或基督教的神）。大意是：記號透過其正在撰寫的文字閃出警訊。

The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls. ：先知的話語是寫在地鐵的牆上以及廉價公寓的大廳裡。表示社會真實的現狀（先知所見的事實）只有在地鐵牆上的塗鴉（graffiti）以及窮人在其所住的廉價公寓大廳中所發的怨言或哀求中。

　

學習指引 ：

１、可以閱讀這篇關於Simon and Garfunkel的文章"Poet Musician Artist -A Critical Commentary"。
２、歌曲中所描寫的在異象中所見到的景象所以不是很寫實，同時文字比較詩意，因此需要一些想像力的輔助。
３、每一段幾乎都一由一個句子所組成，如能先找出其主要子句，掌握句子的結構後，比較容易理解。

參考資料：

simon1.jpg (2649 bytes) The Sound of Silence, 1966, Columbia (Sony)

　

相關連結：

The Official Paul Simon Web Site: Paul Simon的官方網站

http://www.wbr.com/paulsimon/

　

Simon and Garfunkel Homepage:歌迷所建立的網站

http://www3.mistral.co.uk/rkent/

版權：本頁除歌詞之外之著述版權為林文淇所有。歡迎一切為教學與其他非營利目的所作的翻印等使用。

　