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Joseph Bowman
2-9-2020
ENG 1201
Loudermilk
The Sound of Silence

"The Sound of Silence" is a 1966 American folk song that was originally sung by

music duo Simon and Garfunkel, but it was later remade by rock metal band Disturbed

in 2015. The two versions of the song share the same lyrical tone while having

distinguishably different sounds ranging between 2 genres. Despite this difference, the

music video for the Disturbed cover successfully represents the desperate tone of the

original while adding a uniquely modern twist on the message. The audience of the

original version of the song would be a common American folk music fan; however, this

new version by Disturbed more heavily appeals to fans of rock and an arguably more

"rough and hardened" audience (Disturbed).

The first rendition of “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel is

accompanied by a very simple video. The black and white video, from 1966, shows

Simon and Garfunkel performing in front of a small audience in a blank room. The only

musical accompaniment is the playing of a guitar, and there are no flashy props or set

designs, just the artists and the music. This video was before the era of “Music Video

Television” and, being from 1966, the video had no flashy product placement, storyline,

or deep messages to be had in the visuals (Simon and Garfunkel). These messages all

instead came from the lyrics of the song and from the way that Simon and Garfunkel

performed it.
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Firstly, the performance of the song, while softly sung, is very raw and emotional.

Simon and Garfunkel truly have amazing voices when it comes to conveying their

message. While mainly expressionless, there is a moment in the video at 1:31 where

Simon and Garfunkel turn to the camera to sing the line “No one dared”, conveying that

they want the viewer to directly know that if they feel like they are bound to silence and

not dare say anything, that they are exactly the person that this message is for.

Their real message comes from the lyrics that they wrote, and how the whole

song’s message is a call to break away from being silent. The song talks all about the

dangers of silence and how Simon and Garfunkel feel that silence has consumed the

world and that they see people on the streets who do not speak, listen to, nor engage

one another, but instead that people seem to worship the silence that they created.

Simon and Garfunkel at one point even compare silence to a cancerous sore, saying

“Silence like a cancer grows,” (Simon and Garfunkel), implying that silence is incredibly

dangerous and even deadly in some cases.

Disturbed, the band that covered “The Sound of Silence” in 2015, takes a

completely different approach to conveying the same message. Firstly the genre has

completely changed. The once soft murmurs of Simon and Garfunkel have changed to

emotional bursts of energy and demands that people break away from the pattern of

silence, all accompanied by many different instruments like violin, drums, and, like the

original, acoustic guitar (Disturbed). The main musical difference is the singer’s voice,

as the lead singer for Disturbed has a deep, loud, and raspy voice that would be

perceived as incredibly manly and butch. He uses this to his advantage to add a much
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wider range of emotion to his rendition, as he can start off soft and meek like Simon and

Garfunkel, but eventually grow into a monstrous voice full of emotion.

This modern version of the song is accompanied by a video, which features

many images of broken or burnt guitars, pianos, and many other instruments. This

implies a message that music has become regulated and silenced by major labels,

censorship, and media. This idea is further supported later in the video when people are

shown writing down notes onto music sheets in the dirt. This imagery of them bent and

cowered while writing their music is immediately juxtaposed by these writers standing

up with their music sheets, metaphorically “taking a stand” with their music and their

stories.

The music sheet creators then meet on opposite sides of a river with people who

have gathered the broken instruments in order to create the music that seems to have

been broken down and thrown away. The music video ends with the people with

instruments on a boat, seemingly to cross the river to meet the people with the music

sheets. This represents the people who are finally able to say something and take a

stand against the censorship in the media to create something that they truly hold dear

to themselves.

While these two versions of the same song are wildly different, they still have

something in common. They are a message to those who have been silenced and to

those who feel that they have stories or music to share. These songs both express the

dangers of silence in two different time periods and with two different genres, but with

the same lyrics.

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Works Cited

Disturbed. ​The Sound Of Silence [Official Music Video]​. ​YouTube,​ YouTube, 8 Dec.

2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4.

Simon and Garfunkel. “‘The Sound of Silence.’” ​YouTube,​ YouTube, 1966,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqXyTNKlwTI.