The Sound of Silence

This is the South African singer Ruhan du Toit. Why am I including this song, when few in the U.S. have heard of Ruhan? I looked him up when I saw that he played a duet with Amira Willighagen on her third album, 'With All My Heart.' Being a fan of Amira I am always interested in anyone she chooses to work with or endorses. It was her complements that led me to Jonathan Antoine. In fact this YouTube video by Ruhan has received over 9 million views, which is exceptional, and from what I understand this rendition of the Simon and Garfunkel song is well-known among contemporary musicians. Ruhan is especially well-known in his home of South Africa. It's not hard to see why.

Here is the song he and Amira did together on her most recent album. The song is Follow Your Heart. I think it is beautiful. It is meant to represent a girl saying goodbye to her father.



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
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound 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 share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach…
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 whisper'd in the sounds of silence