Preview

"Sounds of Silence" Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
737 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
"Sounds of Silence" Analysis
In the process of conveying emotion and feeling, people take different routes in going about such a task. Some people draw, some debate, and others write. Paul Simon, a genius with words and music, wrote poems to describe his feelings on politics, love, and the ways of life. Hearing or reading a Paul Simon song gives a person a blessed experienced, they had just seen real emotion, an oddity in these days. One Simon song that stands out above the rest is also probably his most famous, "The Sounds of Silence". Like many other Paul Simon pieces, the contradictory title is not the only confusing aspect of the song, each line conveys complex yet meaningful words. The 60's was a decade dominated by great musicians: Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, and Jimi
Hendrix. Paul Simon is another man that tackled music and took it to the level of excellence, like the other 60's music idols. In his song "The Sounds of Silence", he puts multiple concepts of importance into one 35 line poem, successfully getting his point across. So the question is, what are the sounds of silence and what is it Paul Simon is trying to say? The Sounds of Silence that he refers to numerous times shows the lack of human communication in everyday life . Simon is saying that intelligent conversations or friendly words to one another have been overlooked in society. The poem shows that although people talk to others, they are not saying what they truly feel. Instead they keep it inside, and those kept feelings are the sounds of silence. Numerous times he makes reference to technology, showing that it is the cause of the separation between people. He also says that while walking through a large city his eyes are opened to such lack of communication as he sees no talking or speaking. Since everyone speaks these sounds of silence the others follow such a trend and continue to uphold the lack of communication.
Although many of us are accustomed with some of Paul Simon's elated songs such as "You

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Bronx Masqurade

    • 2695 Words
    • 4 Pages

    wants to have a future as a song writer. His poems talk about cherishing life, and his…

    • 2695 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    By combining several existing genres, mainly blues, gospel, and country, Elvis went on to pioneer a new genre of popular music, named ‘Rock and Roll’. For me, Elvis is the father of all Rock and Roll, and even today, 60 years on, Elvis’ influences can still be heard in modern music. Back in the day, Elvis’ music was a revelation.…

    • 4611 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    These labelled ‘protest songs’ became anthems for the American civil-right anti-war movements. His songs, and lyrics, have incorporated various political, social, and philosophical influences and appealed to the generation’s counterculture of the time.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When he mixed these influences with hard drugs and rock and roll, it sent shocks down the spine of the music industry. Hendrix, along with Janis Joplin, created an edgy, soulful sound that would create a phenomenon.…

    • 4070 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What do Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney have in common other than popular icons of music: the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The Gershwin Prize is one of the many honors awarded by the Library of Congress. While the Library of Congress is concerned that the recipients of the Gershwin Prize for Song goes to persons who both entertain and inform their listeners, the word "song" is extended to include and type of sound recording that can…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    From Dog To God Analysis

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Music can be more than just something to dance or sing along to. It is also a form of art and a way for people to let their feelings out in a different way. Many people write music to express any sort of feeling, such as happiness, anger, and depression. By putting out their music they can connect to their fans, friends, and family in a way that is easier for them and everyone can find a way to relate to them. The songs “From Dog to God” by Prayers, “Undercover Martyn” by Two Door Cinema Club, and “Hey You” by Pink Floyd all express the effects of isolation and how it gets in the way of their lives.…

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ralph Ellison apprehended the power of music. He realized that music can is a constant reminder of your past and of whom you were, while it reminds us of our aspirations. At the same time, it is an escape. It helps to drown the troubles in life, as he did to drown the horrible notes that his neighbor sung. Music will not only calm when one is troubled, it will resurrect and liven…

    • 290 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the poem starts, the narrator urges the drums and bugles to play their music loudly and powerful, so it bursts through doors and windows into schools and churches. He even urges the instruments to disturb newlyweds and farmers. Then, as if on repeat, he once again urges the drums and bugles to play, except he describes their sound hoping it will reach across the city. He wants it to keep people up at night and keep them from working during the day. If people chose to ignore it and carry on with their business, the instruments must play even louder and wilder. Then once again, he tells the instruments to play even more powerfully, except this time they should not stop playing for any conversation or explanation. He urges the drums and bugles to not pay attention to anyone no matter what they are doing and tells the music to recruit men into the military, regardless what their mothers and children say. Finally, he urges the instruments to play so loud and powerful that it shakes the support beams that lie under the dead.…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Maestro

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Paul’s learning life as well as music is on image that Peter Goldsworthy has created. Goldsworthy uses quotes which explain the images. A quote meaning this image is, “we must not make the mistake of confusing music with emotions,” and, “always the most difficult part of a race is the last step,” Paul is the only person that Keller has had any emotional attachment to since his wife and child were killed and this has developed a better relationship between Paul and Keller when Paul began lessons with Keller. His first impressions were misleading, “a boozer’s incandescent glow.” As Paul matures, his attitudes towards Keller became warmer, and they develop an unexpressed bond. Goldsworthy uses this quote to show the development. “I slipped my arm beneath his head and kissed him,” this represents Paul’s final realisation of his connection with Keller in death.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    While many of the songs from wars in our past tended to lean in favor, Vietnam presents a startling shift in music. For the first time during…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Celebrities in the 50s

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Musicians in the ‘50s were pretty bland, minus Elvis, they were all just stand there and sing their ballads or whatever they happened to be singing. Now, this is not to say that legendary artists weren’t born out of the ‘50s. Artists from the ‘50s include Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Hank Williams and Louis Armstrong. Johnny Cash is one of, if not the, most famous Country musicians ever. His biggest hits include “I Walk the Line,” “Burning Ring of Fire,” and the “Folsom Prison Blues.” He and Hank Williams were true “Outlaws” of Country music. Chuck Berry was one of the leaders in the rock and roll movement. He was the pioneer of rock music. John Lennon was quoted as saying “If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry’.”(www.wwwk.co.uk) Some of Chuck Berry’s more popular songs include “Johnny B. Good” and “No Particular Place to Go” Louis Armstrong was a very popular blues musician. He played in a lot of blues clubs in his home town of New Orleans, Louisiana until his mentor invited him to play in Chicago with him. After that Armstrong stayed in Chicago and kept playing there due to a large wealthy black community.…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The water also shows the lost of his logic and goodness. "Lagoon"¦ stead of phosphorescence" The "the tide"¦ smoothed everything of a layer", shows how after his death the water become calm. The calmness represents the loss of Simon's logic and goodness. "The water lifted" shows how "sound of water was still".…

    • 324 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bob Dylan is recognized as one of the greatest rock and roll icons of the 1960s. Whether singing a topical folk song, exploring rock and blues, or delivering one of his more abstract compositions, Dylan has consistently demonstrated the rare ability to reach and affect listeners with thoughtful, sophisticated lyrics. It is safe to say that he has been able to define the mood of his generation through his songs which provide commentary to the restless age of the 60s. Dylan played the role of a spokesperson for his generation- some even call him a poet, a title to which he would not admit to. “I don’t call myself a poet because I don’t like the word,” he has said. “I’m a trapeze artist” (Bob Dylan Quotes).…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sonny's Blues

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Like James Baldwin said “only an artist can tell and only an artist have told, since we have heard of man, what it is like for anyone that gets this planet, to survive it. What it is like to die, or to have somebody die, what it is like to fear death, what is it like to fear, what it is like to love, what it is like to be glad.” Music expresses the pain, suffering, love and all sorts of emotions that we cannot express but just normal verbal means. Artists talk about the depressing topics that we are afraid to talk about and express our inner emotions for us and give us a sense of relief that someone else can relate to us. In the revelation of the narrator at the end of the story he realized that of all the things he been through that there is still light at the end of the tunnel because he still have his brother, they are surviving and living.…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the past 100 years, people have changed our world in numerous ways. Musicians are a big influence on different aspects of our world such as social, cultural, and musical. Some of the musicians throughout the mid to late 20th century have left impacts that are still relevant today. During one artist's time as a musician, he was responsible for more than just a musical impact, and that artist is Jimi Hendrix. Jimi Hendrix, one of the best musicians to ever live, not only revolutionized the act of guitar playing, but he also had a tremendous impact of the cultural, social, and musical aspect of each of our lives in the world today.…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays