The Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel - MP3 instrumental karaoke

Believe it or not, Simon & Garfunkel's iconic, genre-defining folk-rock tune "The Sound of Silence" was not met with great enthusiasm back in 1964. Written by Paul Simon between 1963 and 1964, the song deals with the impossibility of communicating with other people at an emotional level. It was the first song the pair performed during their audition with Columbia Records, which released their studio debut Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. in 1964. The album was largely considered a commercial failure and precipitated the group's breakup, with Paul Simon returning to England and Art Garfunkel resuming his studies at Columbia University. In 1965, the song slowly started gaining traction on college radio, prompting producer Tom Wilson to create a remix with electric instruments and live drums. This new version was released as a single on September 12, 1965, and quickly became a massive hit, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. Thanks to the song's success, Simon & Garfunkel reunited later that year and kicked off a critically acclaimed run of albums such as Sounds of Silence (1966), Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1967), Bookends (1968), and Bridge over Troubled Water (1970). "The Sound of Silence" was also featured in the soundtrack of the film The Graduate.