Actors From New Jersey

"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 whispered in 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 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 shared No one dared Disturb the sound 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."

"God only knows God makes his plan The information's unavailable To the mortal man. We work our jobs Collect our pay Believe we're gliding down the highway When in fact we're slip slidin' away."

"Slip slidin' away Slip slidin' away. You know the nearer your destination The more you're slip slidin' away."

"This is near enough true bliss."

"[Rock 'n' roll] really is not given to thinking — and resents thinking. Which I believe is the big error of rock 'n' roll. It's always aspired to be the music of the working class. And it's never been looked upon as a vocabulary for art and artistic thinking... We have to be able to expand the vocabulary to express more complex thoughts."

"I write from instinct, from inexplicable sparkle. I don't know why I'm writing what I'm writing. Usually, I sit and I let my hands wander on my guitar. And I sing anything. I play anything. And I wait till I come across a pleasing accident. Then I start to develop it. Once you take a piece of musical information, there are certain implications that it automatically contains — the implication of that phrase elongated, contracted, or inverted or in another time signature. So you start with an impulse and go to what your ear likes."

"I have gone through different phases in my music writing. There was a time when I used a little exercise — incorporating all of the twelve notes in the chromatic scale — to get me going. I used this technique for a while, but I don't any longer because I am going back to simpler melodies. Originally I moved away from the simple songs because I thought they were too simple."

"I am editing myself as we go along"

"Well its great to do a neighborhood concert. I hope everyone can hear us. I hope that the sound is good. I hope we are blasting Central Park West and Fifth avenue pretty much away. I just want to thank the police department and the fire department and the parks commissioner, and Ed Koch [Audience boos] — and particularly, you know, people that never get recognized for doing good things for the city, a group of people that have donated half of the proceeds that they're making tonight — the guys who are selling loose joints are giving the city half of their income tonight."

"I didn't want to repeat the same notes in the second verse that I used in the first, so I wrote out all the notes of the song and all the notes that were missing in the scale, given that there are twelve notes from octave to octave. All those notes that weren't in the scale were the ones I wanted in for the next verse. The listener isn't aware that they are new notes, but the sound is pleasing to the ear. I change the key, and somehow it's fresh because you haven't heard those notes before."

"Instead of thinking in terms of chords, I think of voice-leading; that is, melody line and bass line, and where the bass line goes. If you do that, you'll have the right chord. [These voices] will give you some alternatives, and you can play those different alternatives to hear which one suits your ear... Keep the bass line moving so you don't stay in one spot: if you have an interesting bass line and you roll it against the melody, the chords are going to come out right."

"There was always some kind of strain, but it was workable. The bigger you get, the more of a strain it is, because in your everyday life, you're less used to compromising. As you get bigger, you have your own way. But in a partnership you always have to compromise. … When you get into a partnership, you're not the boss. There's no boss. That makes it hard."

"I wanted to sing other types of songs that Simon and Garfunkel wouldn't do. "Mother and Child Reunion" for example, is not a song that you would have normally thought that Simon and Garfunkel would have done. It's possible that they might have. But it wouldn't have been the same, and I don't know if I would have been so inclined in that direction. So for me it was a chance to break out and gamble a little bit … The breakup had to do with a natural drifting apart as we got older and the separate lives that were more individual. We weren't so consumed with recording and performing. We had other activities … there was no great pressure to stay together other than money, which exerted very little influence upon us. … We didn't need the money."

"And the war rages on in a land called somewhere And Generals order their men to kill And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten While a little cloud weeps on the side of a hill."

"I like them all. … They're all pictures of me when I wrote them. … I have no favorite songs."

"He doesn't talk much anymore Just to the voices in his head The boy just gazed down at the floor And nodded once or twice At what she said"

"My boy and me We're refugees of sorts From my hometown They don't like different there They would've mowed us down"

"So, what in the world are we whispering for? Everyone's naked, there's nothing to hide"

"We are who we are Or we're not But at least We'll eventually all fall asleep Eventually all fall asleep"

"They say all roads lead to a river Then one day the river comes up to your door How will the builder of bridges deliver us all To the faraway shore?"

"The bedroom breathes in clicks and clacks Uneasy heartbeat, can't relax But then your hand takes mine Thank God I found you in time"

"It's easy to be generous when you're on a roll It's hard to be grateful when you're out of control"

"Trust your intuition. It's just like goin' fishin'. You cast your line and hope you get a bite. But you don't need to waste your time worrying about the marketplace, Try to help the human race. Struggling to survive its harshest hour."

"I'm gonna watch you shine, gonna watch you grow. Gonna paint a sign so you'll always know. As long as one and one is two. There could never be a father who loved His daughter more than I love you."

"I am walking up the face of the mountain. Counting every step I climb. Remembering the names of the constellations. Forgotten is a long, long time."

"The light through the stained glass was cobalt and red. And the frayed cuffs and collars were mended by halos of golden thread. The choir sang, "Once Upon a Time There Was An Ocean." And all the old hymns and family names came fluttering down as leaves of emotion. As nothing is different, but everything's changed."

"Once upon a time there was an ocean. But now it's a mountain range. Something unstoppable put into motion. Nothing is different, but everything's changed."

"Maybe the heart is part of the mist. And that's all that there is or could ever exist. Maybe and maybe and maybe some more. Maybe's the exit that I'm looking for."

""The universe loves a drama," you know. And ladies and gentlemen this is the show."

"Little kid dancin' in the grass, legs like rubber band. It's summertime, summertime. There's a line at the candy stand. Keep an eye on them children, eye on them children in the pool. You'd better keep an eye on them children, eye on them children in the pool."

"Snowman sittin' in the sun doesn't have time to waste."

"Because you cannot walk with the holy, If you're just a halfway decent man. But I don't pretend that I'm a mastermind With a genius marketing plan.I'm trying to tap into some wisdom, Even a little drop would do. I want to rid my heart of envy And cleanse my soul of rage Before I'm through."

"Prayers offered in times of peace are silent conversations, Appeals for love, or love's release, in private invocationsBut all that is changed now. Gone like a memory from the day before the fires. People hungry for the voice of God Hear lunatics and liars.Wartime prayers. Wartime prayers In every language spoken. For every family scattered and broken."

"Take me. I'm an ordinary player in the key of C. And my will was broken by my pride and my vanity. Who's gonna love you when you're looks are gone? God will. Like he waters the flowers on your window sill."

"It's outrageous to line your pockets off the misery of the poor. Outrageous, the crimes some human beings must endure. It's a blessing to wash your face in the summer solstice rain. It's outrageous a man like me stand here and complain. But I'm tired."

"I shoot a thought into the future, and it flies like an arrow, through my lifetime. And beyond. If I ever come back as a tree, or a crow, or even the wind-blown dust; find me on the ancient road in the song when the wires are hushed. Hurry on and remember me, as I'll remember you. Far above the golden clouds, the darkness vibrates. The earth is blue. And everything about it is a love song. Everything about it."

"We don't mean to mess things up, But mess them up we do. And then it's "Oh, I'm sorry." Here's a smiling photograph Of love when it was new. At a birthday party. Make a wish and close your eyes: Surprise, surprise, surprise."

"Locked in a struggle for the right combination Of words in a melody line, I took a walk along the riverbank of my imagination. Golden clouds were shuffling the sunshine."

"If the answer is infinite light, Why do we sleep in the dark?"

"How can you live in the Northeast? How can you live in the South? How can you build on the banks of a river When the flood water pours from the mouth? How can you be a Christian? How can you be a Jew? How can you be a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu? How can you?"

"And sometimes even music Cannot substitute for tears."

"Moves like a fist through traffic, Anger and no-one can kill it, Shoves a little bump to the momentum, It's just a little lump but you feel it In the creases and the shadows, With a rattling deep emotion. The cool, cool river Sweeps the wild, wide ocean."

"Never been lonely, Never been lied to, Never had to scuffle in fear, Nothing to dive to, Born at the instant, The church bells chime, The whole world whispering, You're born at the right time."

"Sonny sits by his window and thinks to himself, How it's strange that some rooms are like cages, Sonny's yearbook from high school is down from the shelf, And he idly thumbs through the pages, Some have died, some have fled from themselves, On a struggle from here to get there, Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls, Runs his hands through his thinning brown hair."

"Well I'm accustomed to a smooth ride, Or maybe I'm a dog that's lost its bite, I don't expect to be treated like a fool, no, no, I don't expect to sleep long nights, Some people say a lie is just a lie but I say, Why deny the obvious child?"

"Homeless, homeless, Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake."

"A man walks down the street It’s a street in a strange world Maybe it’s the third world Maybe it’s his first time around … He looks around around He sees angels in the architecture Spinning in infinity He says Amen and Hallelujah."