In this post, I will do a textual analysis of Disturbed metal band's song The Sound Of Silence. I chose this song because it is one of those songs, which gives me emotional chills every time I listen to it. This song is only a cover by Disturbed but is quite different from the original one. But before heading to the analysis, here is the song's video:
The genre of this song falls under the rock, however, it is quite different in the sense of what we usually perceive as rock music. There is no presence of electric guitar, bass, and drums as it is usual in rock music, but instead, there is piano, acoustic guitar and timpani. In some cases, it is classified also as a piano rock, which I completely agree with. I would not classify this song just as a rock genre as the sound and the feeling of it does not represent rock music in my eyes.
The singer (David Draiman) is represented as the storyteller in the music video. At the beginning of the video, the artist seems to be vulnerable and filled with sadness, which contrasts the man's overall look - he seems to be tough and strong and here the gender comes to play. Men are generally represented as a strong gender in media and it is not so common to see them vulnerable. Additionally, the singer's facial features and the look contradicts as well. In the second half of the song, the artist gets enraged, which is represented with a manly and powerful voice of his. At this point, the gender strength is being shown by facial expressions of his as well.
The worldview in this song is quite dark and depressing. The lyrics of the song are quite powerful and uses imagery and symbolism to send the message. The story is about rage towards people and society and its ignorance. It talks about people disability to communicate with each other on an emotional and significant level, which can also be related to media, the lyrics being "people talking without speaking" and "hearing without listening". There is no understanding between people because we fail to address significant things and rather keep quiet being afraid to "disturb the sound of silence". Also, it reflects the hollow culture our society has built and in song, it is described as "And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made". The narrator, in this case, the singer tries to warn people that "fools you do not know, silence like a cancer grows" representing that if no change is made, it will only grow worse. But by the end the words "but my words like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells of silence" tells that the author's words are not heard as well.
Used for inspiration:
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/7004191/disturbed-sound-of-silence-rock-charts
Genius. The Sound Of Silence - Lyrics.
https://genius.com/Disturbed-the-sound-of-silence-lyrics
Kevin | Song Meanings. Simon and Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence.
https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/7354/
The genre of this song falls under the rock, however, it is quite different in the sense of what we usually perceive as rock music. There is no presence of electric guitar, bass, and drums as it is usual in rock music, but instead, there is piano, acoustic guitar and timpani. In some cases, it is classified also as a piano rock, which I completely agree with. I would not classify this song just as a rock genre as the sound and the feeling of it does not represent rock music in my eyes.
The singer (David Draiman) is represented as the storyteller in the music video. At the beginning of the video, the artist seems to be vulnerable and filled with sadness, which contrasts the man's overall look - he seems to be tough and strong and here the gender comes to play. Men are generally represented as a strong gender in media and it is not so common to see them vulnerable. Additionally, the singer's facial features and the look contradicts as well. In the second half of the song, the artist gets enraged, which is represented with a manly and powerful voice of his. At this point, the gender strength is being shown by facial expressions of his as well.
The worldview in this song is quite dark and depressing. The lyrics of the song are quite powerful and uses imagery and symbolism to send the message. The story is about rage towards people and society and its ignorance. It talks about people disability to communicate with each other on an emotional and significant level, which can also be related to media, the lyrics being "people talking without speaking" and "hearing without listening". There is no understanding between people because we fail to address significant things and rather keep quiet being afraid to "disturb the sound of silence". Also, it reflects the hollow culture our society has built and in song, it is described as "And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made". The narrator, in this case, the singer tries to warn people that "fools you do not know, silence like a cancer grows" representing that if no change is made, it will only grow worse. But by the end the words "but my words like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells of silence" tells that the author's words are not heard as well.
Used for inspiration:
Genius. The Sound Of Silence - Lyrics.
https://genius.com/Disturbed-the-sound-of-silence-lyrics
Kevin | Song Meanings. Simon and Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence.
https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/7354/
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