Sounds of Silence Songs Ranked
Sounds of Silence is the second studio album by Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album’s title is a slight modification of the title of the duo’s first major hit, “The Sound of Silence”, which originally was released as “The Sounds of Silence”. The song had earlier been released in an acoustic version on the album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and later on the soundtrack to the movie The Graduate. Without the knowledge of Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel, electric guitars, bass and drums were overdubbed by Columbia Records staff producer Thom Wilson on June 15, 1965. This new version was released as a single in September 1965, and opened the album. The album is also included in its entirety as part of the Simon & Garfunkel box sets Collected Works and The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970). On March 22, 2013, it was announced that the album will be preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry, calling it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Here are all of the Sounds of Silence songs ranked.
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11. Blessed
” The speaker is tired and cynical, too much so, for my taste. Like “The Sound of Silence,” this one is a depiction of urban decay and desperation, but it is musically inferior, and does not reach the same poetic heights. “My words trickle down, like a wound / That I have no intention to heal.” Perhaps this speaker needs his misery in order to speak.”
10. Richard Cory
“I read Edwin Arlington Robinson’s brilliant poem for my first English class in college, quite a while ago now. Years later, I was teaching my own college English class, and making my students listen to this song. An excellent, memorable adaptation of the poem, the song gives voice to a factory worker who envies the fortunate Cory… until the latter puts a bullet through his head.”
9. Leaves that are Green
“I played this song for my students when we were learning how to read songs. They loved it. If you were to read the lyrics without having heard the music, you would never expect the upbeat tempo. In this case, form seems to undermine context; in fact, the tempo makes the message easier to bear. The mood is mono no aware: sadness at the passing of things. I like the reference to the ripple effect. “Time hurries on.” “Hello… Good-bye… that’s all there is.” So many people come into your life and then disappear just as easily. Lots of food for thought here.”
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8. Somewhere They Can’t Find Me
“A man-on-the-run tune. He has robbed a liquor store, and so he must run and hide. A simple, straightforward song. Catchy, but not one of the highlights of the album.”
7. A Most Peculiar Man
“Like “I Am A Rock,” this song explores isolation; like “Richard Cory,” it is about suicide. No one knows anything about the man of the title. He is different, he doesn’t fit in. His tragic death is met with indifference. “Wasn’t he a most peculiar man?” I read into this song another comment on the alienation that goes with life in a big city. Though the tempo is not as fast as that of “Leaves That Are Green,” the music is catchy, in contrast to the dark subject matter.”
6. We’ve Got a Groovy Thing Goin’
“Not a particularly deep song, this one has the speaker trying to convince his girl that she should not leave him. Just as short as the previous tune, this one is not contemplative in the same way, but you could dance to it if you wanted to.”
5. Anji
“An instrumental coda to the previous song, this little gem bisects the album. It has elements of “We’ve Got A Groovy Thing Goin’,” so it looks both back and forward.”
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4. April Come She Will
“I first heard it in _The Graduate_. This traditional song summarizes a short-lived relationship in less than two minutes. The lovers are together from April to August. Time passes quickly, and everything comes to an end. Mono no aware once again, as in “Leaves That Are Green.” Poignant.”
3. Kathy’s Song
“A slow, contemplative piece. There is no chorus, no variation. The music is pleasant, and because there is no “distraction” one has to pay attention to the poetry. The speaker looks at the rain and remembers the woman he loves. Simple, deep, evocative, powerful.”
2. I Am a Rock
“We’re back to the theme of isolation, but this final song in the album appears to celebrate it. Appears to. Once again there is a contrast between form and content, which in this case points to irony. The speaker says his books and his poetry protect him. He wants no friends, and nothing to do with love. “Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.” “If I never loved I never would have cried.” We can understand him. This is a person who has grown tired of being hurt. Hopefully, he will open up in his own time, and his fate won’t be that of the peculiar man.”
1. The Sounds of Silence
“The song had been released previously, in S&G’s first album, _Wednesday Morning, 3 A. M._ (1964). This version is the remix, which adds overdubbed instrumentation. The title is an oxymoron, but some of us know that if you listen carefully to the silence you eventually hear its sounds. Unfortunately, we live in a time when so many people are scared of silence.”