19)#102-1. Demystifying “The Sound of Silence”?

The Sound of Silence.. This song has left a deep impression on me. The reason for that is even now I cannot wrap my head around on what it means exactly. It is quite frustrating :/

Since the meaning of the lyrics is ambiguous, I thought I would just elaborate on how these lines made me feel when I heard them the first time. This way, I hope to understand Benjamin, the protagonist of our in-class film The Graduate, a bit better.

In the beginning, the song made me feel like I was all alone. I was in the dark where no one else could reach me. I felt slightly sad. In the middle, my loneliness progressed in an unexpected way. Unlike the beginning of the song, I knew that there were many people around me; however, I could not relate. Random people passing and speaking with muted words was replaced with the soft and rather melancholic melody of the music. It felt like I was floating amongst the crowd. From the outside, I looked like just an ordinary person, but my soul was rebelling, rebelling for freedom..I wanted to be different just like Benjamin wanted. Unfortunately, my soul could not break away. It wanted to reach others that were drowning, but it couldn’t.

Finally, the sound of silence..

Of course, this is just what my emotions appeared to be when I heard The Sound of Silence. There is neither right nor wrong, so please feel free to add your own impression of the song. I’m curious about other people’s views: DDD