In class today, we listened to Disturbed's cover of "The Sound of Silence." I've included the lyrics below. If you were absent today, you can easily find the song on YouTube and listen there.
I am a lover of music. I listen to songs when I'm bored, angry, sad, or happy--just like all of you. But if you like songs/raps, you may not realize that it means you actually like figurative language too. "The Sound of Silence" is one of my favorite songs. I love the lyrics, I love the build-up, I love the story it tells, and I love how it's chock-full of personification, alliteration, simile, and hyperbole. Take another look at the lyrics below and notice all these examples if you did not catch them at first. On Monday, I will check to see if you are able to accurately identify certain examples of figurative language from this song, so read the lyrics over until you feel comfortable!
Hello, darkness, my old friend (personification)
I've come to talk with you again (personification)
Because a vision softly creeping (personification)
Left its seeds while I was sleeping (alliteration)
And the vision that was planted in my brain (hyperbole)
Still remains
Within the sound of silence (alliteration)
In restless dreams I walked alone (personification)
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp (alliteration)
My eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light (personification)
That split the night (hyperbole)
And touched the sound of silence (personification)
And in the naked light I saw (personification)
Ten thousand people, maybe more (alliteration)
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence (alliteration)
Fools, said I, you do not know (alliteration)
Silence like a cancer grows (simile)
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you (hyperbole)
But my words, like silent raindrops, fell (simile)
And echoed in the wells of silence (hyperbole)
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," (alliteration)
And whispered...in the sounds...of silence... (alliteration)
-Ms. Sanford
I am a lover of music. I listen to songs when I'm bored, angry, sad, or happy--just like all of you. But if you like songs/raps, you may not realize that it means you actually like figurative language too. "The Sound of Silence" is one of my favorite songs. I love the lyrics, I love the build-up, I love the story it tells, and I love how it's chock-full of personification, alliteration, simile, and hyperbole. Take another look at the lyrics below and notice all these examples if you did not catch them at first. On Monday, I will check to see if you are able to accurately identify certain examples of figurative language from this song, so read the lyrics over until you feel comfortable!
Hello, darkness, my old friend (personification)
I've come to talk with you again (personification)
Because a vision softly creeping (personification)
Left its seeds while I was sleeping (alliteration)
And the vision that was planted in my brain (hyperbole)
Still remains
Within the sound of silence (alliteration)
In restless dreams I walked alone (personification)
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp (alliteration)
My eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light (personification)
That split the night (hyperbole)
And touched the sound of silence (personification)
And in the naked light I saw (personification)
Ten thousand people, maybe more (alliteration)
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence (alliteration)
Fools, said I, you do not know (alliteration)
Silence like a cancer grows (simile)
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you (hyperbole)
But my words, like silent raindrops, fell (simile)
And echoed in the wells of silence (hyperbole)
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," (alliteration)
And whispered...in the sounds...of silence... (alliteration)
-Ms. Sanford