Ran across this cover of an old favorite the other day. Obviously Kate's voice is completely different from this chap's, but I rather fancy that if she covered this song, she'd do it in a similar sort of style. That constant, relentless escalation.

(The original was by Simon & Garfunkel; such is popular music's essential atemporality nowadays that I suspect you all knew that, but for the record...)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

---

Hello, darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its scenes 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 streetlamp
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 shared
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
In tenement halls
And whispered in the sound of silence

- Disturbed
"The Sound of Silence"
Immortalized (2015)

Ahh....

Yes, this has been a favorite of mine in general, but particularly by Disturbed; they're not normally something I listen to frequently, but they do hold the distinction of being the only band I've gone to see in concert, so they hold a place regardless of my mood.

I would absolutely -love- to hear the Art play this song in a similar style. My imagination can't do the concept justice, but even that's giving me chills. :)

"Who knew that Howie Mandel could sing so well? This is by far my favorite episode of Deal or no Deal."

...!
Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The Victorian Ballsmiths
"Nobody Want Verdigris-Covered Balls!"

Intense.
Thank you.

>Intense.

I know, right? When I first heard about this, I assumed it was going to be a sort of Heavy Metal (possibly-unwitting) Comedy thing, like the time Laibach covered "One Vision" by Queen. And then, well, that.

As an aside, there's one thing I've always thought was a little odd about this song. I mean, I get that it's about a surreal dream (or drug? it was the '60s, after all) experience anyway, but even so. Consider the last verse. Is that a direct quotation? Because I tell you what, if the sign literally does say

THE WORDS OF THE
PROPHETS ARE WRITTEN
ON THE SUBWAY WALLS
IN TENEMENT HALLS
AND WHISPERED IN
THE SOUND OF SILENCE

that is one verbose neon god damn sign, yo. That must have cost somebody a small fortune.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I always envisioned it as the news ticker at One Times Square. Not neon, I know, but given that Simon and Garfunkel are native New Yorkers, that seems like an image they would want to invoke.

Ebony the Black Dragon

"Life is like an anole. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's brown. But it's always a small Caribbean lizard."

I always unconsciously pictured a sign that said something else, or was just a symbol, giving off the light that let you read the graffiti the lyrics quote. Not sure why, it doesn't actually match what's described, but that didn't stop my brain. The idea that it could actually be the sign saying that startled me.

-----
Iä! Iä! Moe fthagn!

> that is one verbose neon god damn sign, yo. That must have cost somebody a small fortune.

You have a point. Either it's a really big sign, or it's a nine-letter, electronically controlled contraption which would be ground-breaking for its times.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

This verbosity, from the same lyricist who gave us "A poem comprised of four letters". I'm still wondering what that poem was, although James Taylor gave us "B S U R", which is not too bad of an attempt.

Though I'm wondering now, did they make nixie tubes with letters? This guy doesn't, however. If the neon sign "was forming" -- past progressive -- that implies the neon was changing. It's a mystery, guys!