Of Words and Silences

This is a critical appreciation (or whatever it is that you call it), of my favourite song "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel. I memorized the said song back when i was 3 or 4. It's a very dear thing to me and I'll try to explain why it makes me very happy.

The song "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel is one of my favourite songs and back in the day I was hooked to it. Whenever I do something momentous, be it appearing for my Class X boards, joint entrances or just waking up on my birthday and smiling to myself, because another year has drifted past; I always make it a point to listen to this song. You can call it a sort of ritual. 

Here's the thing. The song is about a very lonely man who describes his evenings. Since he is alone, it seems that Darkness is his oldest friend. The song begins with the line "Hello Darkness, my old friend/I've come to talk with you again". This quality of the song haunts me. I found it fascinating that someone could actually stare into a seemingly endless void and greet it as a friend, that too an old friend. I suppose that's when I fell under this song's spell. 

The thing is, the song is about trying to fit in and about finding people who are into the same things as you are. The irony lies in the fact that when someone is lonely, they seem to think that they are the only ones and that there's no one out there who would be like them, share their common interests or read the same stuff that they do. 
I had this problem during my formative years. As luck would have it, some of my friends couldn't understand the references I made or the jokes I cracked. This little problem persists even today. What's changed? Like the protagonist of the song, I too have seen in a flash of neon light, ten thousand people, maybe more. Talking without speaking. Hearing without listening. I'm not the only one who likes manga. I'm not the only one who hates Justin Beiber. I'm not the only one who has family issues. And so on.

Funnily enough, at the age of 4 I realized that this song was about life. Think about it. Don't we sometimes want to sort things out by ourselves? Don't we sometimes feel alone and lonely? At those times, does our mind not scream out for someone to talk to? And when we find that said someone, do we not feel glad?

Everyone has their own crowd to mix with. Although there's an accepted saying that "opposites attract", it's more important to find someone you can talk to. The third verse of the song equates silence, between people with cancer. It is truly fatal if you lose communication with the people you love. 

In a nutshell, "The Sound of Silence" encourages the weirdness  in me. It tells me to think out of the box and in spite of having a mournful tune as well as lyrics to it, it cheers me up. The message being sent out is simple- You are not the only one out there kid!"

So, people who read this, please join me and let Darkness come and talk to you; within the sound of silence. 

The Bilge Master