Lyrics for singles by Simon and Garfunkel

The Sounds of Silence

Hello darkness my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds 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 street lamp
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 share
And no one dare
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
And tenement halls
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence

Richard Cory

They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town
With political connections to spread his wealth around
Born into society, a banker's only child
He has everything a man could want: power, grace, and style

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be
Oh, I wish that I could be
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory

The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes
Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show
And the rumors of his parties and the orgies on his yacht
Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got

[chorus]

He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read
"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head"

[chorus]

I am a Rock

A winter's day
In a deep and dark December

I am alone
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am a rock
I am an island

I've built walls
A fortress steep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship --- friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
I am a rock
I am an island

Don't talk of love
Well, I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died
If I never loved, I never would have cried
I am a rock
I am an island

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock
I am an island

And a rock feels no pain

And an island never cries

Scarborough Fair/Canticle

Are you goin to scarborough fair? parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without no seams nor needlework, then shell be a true love of mine

Tell her to find me an acre of land, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the salt water and the sea strand, then shell be a true love of mine

Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather, then shell be a true love of mine

Are you goin to scarborough fair? parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine

Homeward Bound

I'm sittin in the railway station
Got a ticket for my destination
On a tour of one night stands
My suitcase and guitar in hand
And every stop is neatly planned
For a poet and a one man band
Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home where my thoughts escaping
Home where my musics playing
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me

Evry days an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines
And each town looks the same to me
The movies and the factories
And evry strangers face I see
Remind me that I long to be
Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home where my thoughts escaping
Home where my musics playing
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me

Tonight Ill sing my songs again
Ill play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me
Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home where my thoughts escaping
Home where my musics playing
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me

The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobble stones
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy

Ba da, Ba da, Ba da, Ba da...Feelin' Groovy

Hello lamp-post
What cha knowin'?
I've come to watch your flowers growin'
Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo
Feelin' groovy

I've got no deeds to do
No promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you
All is groovy

Bridge over Troubled Water

When youre weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

When youre down and out
When youre on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you
Ill take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Sail on silvergirl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind

Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind

El Condor Pasa (If I Could)

Cecilia

Celia, youre breaking my heart
Youre shaking my confidence daily
Oh, Cecilia, I'm down on my knees
I'm begging you please to come home

Celia, youre breaking my heart
Youre shaking my confidence daily
Oh, Cecilia, I'm down on my knees
I'm begging you please to come home
Come on home

Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia
Up in my bedroom
I got up to wash my face
When I come back to bed
someones taken my place

Celia, youre breaking my heart
Youre shaking my confidence daily
Oh, Cecilia, I'm down on my knees
I'm begging you please to come home

Jubilation
She loves me again
I fall on the floor and I laughing
Jubilation
She loves me again
I fall on the floor and I laughing

The Boxer

I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
in the company of strangers
in the quiet of a railway station
Running scared
Laying low
Seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places
Only they would know
Lie-la-lie . . .

Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job
But I get no offers
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare
There were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there

Lie-la-lie . . .

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren't bleeding me
Leading me
Going home

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
But the fighter still remains

Lie-la-lie . . .

America

"Let us be lovers
We'll marry our fortunes together
I've got some real estate
Here in my bag."
So we bought a pack of cigarettes
And Mrs. Wagner's pies
And walked off
To look for America

"Kathy," I said
As we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now
It took me four days
To hitch-hike from Saginaw
I've come to look for America."

Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit
Was a spy
I said, "Be careful
His bow tie is really a camera."

"Toss me a cigarette
I think there's one in my raincoat."
"We smoked the last one an hour ago."
So I looked at the scenery
She read her magazine;
And the moon rose over an open field

"Kathy, I'm lost", I said
Though I knew she was sleeping
"I'm empty and aching and I don't know why."
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come
To look for America
All come to look for America
All come to look for America

Mrs. Robinson

And heres to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know
(Wo wo wo)
God bless you, please Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey hey hey  hey hey hey)

We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files
We'd like to help you learn to help yourself
Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home

And here to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know
(Wo wo wo)
God bless you, please Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey hey hey  hey hey hey)

Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It's a little secret, just the Robinsons' affair
Most of all you've got to hide it from the kids

Coo coo ca choo, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know
(Wo wo wo)
God bless you, please Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey hey hey  hey hey hey)

Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates depate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When youve got to choose
Evry way you look at it you lose

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you
(Woo woo woo)
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Joltin Joe has left and gone away?
(Hey hey hey  hey hey hey)

Hazy Shade of Winter

Time, time, time, see whats become of me
While I looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please
But look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hear the salvation army band
Down by the riverside, its bound to be a better ride
Than what youve got planned
Carry your cup in your hand
And look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hang on to your hopes, my friend
Thats an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend
That you can build them again
Look around, the grass is high
The fields are ripe, its the springtime of my life

Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery
Weaving time in a tapestry
Wont you stop and remember me
At any convenient time
Funny how my memory slips while looking over manuscripts
Of unpublished rhyme
Drinking my vodka and lime

But look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Look around, leaves are brown
Theres a patch of snow on the ground...

My Little Town

In my little town
I grew up believing
God keeps his eye on us all
And he used to lean upon me
As I pledged allegiance to the wall
Lord I recall
My little town

Coming home after school
Flying my bike past the gates of the factories
My mom doing the laundry
Hanging out shirts in the dirty breeze

And after it rained there's a rainbow
And all of the colors are black
It's not that the colors aren't there
It's just imagination they lack
Everything's the same back
In my little town
(my little town...)
(my little town...)

Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town

In my little town
I never meant nothing, I was just my father's son
Saving my money
Dreamin' of glory
Twitching like a finger on the trigger of a gun

Leaving nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town

At the Zoo

Someone told me
It's all happening at the zoo
I do believe it
I do believe it's true

It's a light and tumble journey
From the East Side to the park;
Just a fine and fancy ramble
To the zoo
Bus you can take the cross-town bus
If it's raining or it's cold
And the animals will love it
If you do if you do

Something tells me
It's all happening at the zoo
I do believe it
I do believe it's true

The monkeys stand for honesty
Giraffes are insincere
And the elephants are kindly but
They're dumb
Orangutans are skeptical
Of changes in their cages
And the zookeeper is very fond of rum
Zebras are reactionaries
Antelopes are missionaries
Pigeons plot in secrecy
And hamsters turn on frequently
What a gas! You gotta come and see
At the zoo