Paul Simon said that the original was a warning to humanity, and the Disturbed version is the rage at the warning being ignored. He also said that the song belongs to David now. Now that's the highest praise an artist can hope for.

I listen to this song every day. Gives me chills every time. Best cover song ever!

The vocalist was trained as a cantor…gorgeous timbre and range. I heard someone give the opinion that the original song was written as a warning (which it definitely was). Over 40 years later, we see that the warning has not been heeded, and that now the alienation and apathy is worse now than it ever was…..and that Disturbed’s reimagining of the song is coming from a place of deep sadness and fierce anger that humanity never seems to learn. I agree with this interpretation of the very different atmospheres of the two versions.

Wow. Never heard this version before and I'm seriously impressed by that voice, delivery and arrangement.

Paul Simon praised this cover.

So much POWER, EMOTION, and so RELEVANT to our time right now! If you haven't watched their original video I would highly recommend it and would love to hear your reaction. Thanks, Diane

Absolutely one of the best cover ever done.

Been watching reactions for years on this and it never gets old. As a side note, he comes from a long line of cantors. Out of respect to his his grandfather and their heritage he has no tattoos. He removes his piercings when going home. Not only a magnificent vocalist but an honorable man.

Please do more disturbed! They are an amazing heavy metal group

My fave band!!! Saw them in concert last month! Fantastic!

What an incredible piece of powerful music.

The amazing part is that he was pretty sick for this performance, and you would never know. He was trained as a cantor originally.

Excellent cover…one of the best ever. To me, not better but I understand why many feel it is.

Absolutely a most powerful and beautiful cover of one of the greatest songs ever written. The view u shared was great...

Great reaction, you nailed it! I absolutely love this version of this song! I'm 70 yrs old and had listened to the original song for a long time but it never touched me the way this version does! This is brilliant!

Thank you for reacting to this. This was my introduction to Disturbed. After seeing this video I explored more of their catalog. They are heavy metal and I’ve NEVER been a fan…until…David, lead singer, sucked me in. My family thinks I’m having a midlife crisis. 🤣 I’m 62 so I think I’m a little past midlife. 😂. If you decide to pursue them I would recommend…for some of their “softer” stuff, HOLD ON TO MEMORIES (I think the official live video is the best one)…A REASON TO FIGHT (a powerful message about addiction)…THE LIGHT (never give up). For more of their usual music…DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS (about society not accepting those of us who are different from the expected “norm”)…STRICKEN…STUPIFY (lots of the f word)…PRAYER (his dissatisfaction with religion) On a completely different note. Have you ever heard or done anything by PENTATONIX? They are a 3 time Grammy winning, just nominated for their 4th, world famous ACAPELLA group. React to one video and their fan base, known as PENTAHOLICS, will inundate you with suggestions, information and subscribers. If you want to join us in the rabbit hole, we are very friendly. But beware, it’s a wild ride! Oh, one more thing..I suggest you start with either HALLELUJAH or DAFT PUNK.

I was in high school when the S&G version came out and have resisted listening to the Disturbed version ever since I discovered reaction channels. Finally relented and glad I did.

Man, you really get it. A wonderful song given new and more powerful life by a singer pretty much without equal.

thank you so much for yr reaction !! i agree with yr assessment that art can exist, not only for consumption, but for inspiration - i love how Disturbed chose to honor Simon & Garfunkel with this rendition. what an honor it would be, imo, to have anyone want to cover yr song :') b btw, biggest hugs from chicago ~

I absolutely LOVE Disturb!!!! When I heard this cover of My Simon & Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence!!!" I went crazy on this Metal Band!!! He has a GREAT Voice!!!! And Disturb does a cover of The Cranberry's Famous song "Zombies." Check it out too.

Fantastic reaction and analysis, Syed. Everything you said about this is spot on. The original song is a brilliant piece of lyrical poetry with a great melody, and it's a deserved classic in its own right. And when Disturbed chose to cover it, they delved into the song to find a meaning they could unpack and create a unique and different sound. I love the way you related it to the Jimi Hendrix cover of "All Along the Watchtower," and your analysis of how Hendrix transformed that song with his cover.

David Draiman... what a powerful voice and amazing range and control. He can go from baritone to tenor to vocal fry in an instant and back. David also has the ability to put vibrato on the vocal fry, which is exceedingly difficult to do. He has a timbre to his voice I've never heard before... it's very distinctive. Loved your reaction.

Syed you amaze me. I was a teenager when the original came out but the passion of the lyrics just didn't come through. David knocked it out of the park. Exactly what this song needed.❤

When Paul Simon wrote this song he was into the contrast between happy music hiding melancholy lyrics. The song “I am a Rock” is another example of this style choice. I believe this choice came from Paul’s appreciation of The Everly Brothers, another duo group known for harmonizing. Disturbed leaned into the message with this powerful darkness and passion that fits his voice and the lyrics so well. I love both versions but I was truly surprised by how much I love this one. Now I usually turn to Disturbed when I want to hear it.

Paul Simon, Lou Reed, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen....these artists lyrics stand alone as poetry!

I think it's simply a matter of taste. I personally prefer the original, probably also because of memory and emotions I connect with it. But I understand also why many people prefer the cover version.

Oh my... what a profound and ponderous question. I will hazard a guess that those who prefer the Simon and Garfunkle original version will answer "No", while those who prefer the Disturbed remake will answer "Yes".

Great analysis all the way around!

The first one was a warning and this cover was the scream of rage when the people ignored the warning. He owned this cover.

Yes this cover is better than the original. Paul Simon called David after the performance and told him, this is your song now. Please react to the official music video, as well. It's powerful.

It was better, hauntingly beautiful.I Kept thinking about the audience they must’ve been shocked stunned and awestruck

On the original track Art Garfunkel dang lead while Paul Simon (songwriter) sang the lower harmony.

Simon and Garfunkel’s version was fit with the era when the track was released as a warning for human being, and Disturbed has rearranged it to be perfectly match with current situation when people have not paid attention to the warning. The building of the song is remarkable which make the message of this song very well delivered. The Live version is better than the VM version, only miss the acoustic guitar melody at the last part.

Paul Simon tweeted to David the night of the performance congratulating him.

Now PLEASE watch "Down With The Sickness"!!! THAT'S the Disturbed we all knew when he blew us away with this cover!!!! Your journey is going backwards. You HAVE to do it!!!!

You should watch the video they made of this song, the transformations is even more dramatic. This is the only cover video that Simon has added to his web site.

I love this cover!

Great , great cover !!!

David was running a temperature for this performance and the studio auto-corrected his voice much to his annoyance. There are other video's of him performing this including doing a duet of this strongly recommend them and the added bonus is they are not auto-corrected so you get a true measure of how good his voice is.

Good analysis. Thanks.

Now you need to check out the studio video , jus as powerful , an David is healthy. This live he was under the weather.

I saw an interview with him and he said he had a cold during this performance and obviously still amazing

The extra dramatic style works but I really love the balance of the original more. In the original the powerful lyrics and melody really punch and hits in a perfect way. In this version he raises the dynamic but it keeps it in that space instead of creating waves IMO.

I interpret that the title of "the sound of silence" refers to the mind of a person. What happens within can never actually be known or understood. To me the lyrics make so much more sense to being understood better when I do that.

Disturbed version is epic and amazing!

Oh Yes❤

Simon & Garfunkel meant this as a warning for the future... Disturbed is angry that the warning wasn't heeded...

I feel that Simon and Garfunkels version back in the mid 60's were a warning of what might come...this is more a rage over that the warning became truth.

I prefer their version tbh but probably because I grew up loving Kerrang and this kind of music and listened to disturbed anyways…I think a lot of people prefer this version because it’s more relevant now, they are a fan of disturbed anyways like me or they just feel the way he delivers it is more powerful and his voice is undeniably amazing

Kudos to this band. The really did a great job. I love the original but I also love this version equally. And this guy's voice - WOW. I hope they continue to grow. As far as covers go I would put this up there with Jimi's Watchtower. It's THAT good. BTW - asking if the cover is "better" is, respectfully, a little childish. In the jazz world songs are covered all the time. That's how they become standards. I've heard many different versions of the wonderful "Lush Life". One of my favorites is by Dana Owens - you know her better by her stage name - Queen Latifah. Take a listen to yet another cover of "Lush Life" song. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jqqqi7Gg2b7Th6c.html

S&G did this song as a warning. Disturbed version is he is pissed we didn't listen.

This song is more of an outlier for Disturbed, that gained them a lot of attention. There's not a bad song on their first 3 albums, maybe one slow one. Their cover of Genesis' 'Land of Confusion' is really good, their cover of 'Shout' by Tears for Fears is another great one. 'Droppin Plates' is a metal/rap you'll probably love it (never been covered by any other reactor' (probably) Ten Thousand Fist title trac, Stupify. Deify, Guarded, so many good ones.

I have always loved the original but THAT is the way that song was meant to be sung.

He had a head cold that night. Dave Grohl had classical voice training. One has to be careful when screeching.

React to any UNEDITED Disturbed song. Down With The Sickness is the obvious big song. Every album has at least one cover song on it: Land of Confusion, Genesis, and so on. Another REALLY cool idea would be double feature a classic rock song & metal cover. “Nights in White Satin” - The Moody Blues & Oceans of Slumber “Roundabout” - Yes & Allegaeon Lots more

Very few can tell a story better than David...

He was sick during this as well. Unbelievable

I still prefer the studio version better but the thing was he actually had a pretty bad head cold that night but you know he went ahead and did it. So keep that in mind when you listen to it. But it's still such a masterful performance for sure and it's interesting to see how he handles certain aspects of it just slightly different live than he did on the recording.

The big drums are called timpani drums.

Fantastic cover, NO it’s not better than the original

This singer was coming off the flu on this appearance. Hope you watch there video of the song sometime.

you should react to my own summer bruv

Imho I don't believe "better" is the proper word for it. It's like their version reinvigorated it. As if to say that the original is a warning of things to come and this cover is an affirmation of that warning. Like this is the other side of the same coin.

Oh, ah, ah, ah, ah. 🤣🤣🤣

please react to nirvana you know your right, it was the last song they recorded and has a very special sound

No cover is better then the original, without the original there be no cover ,

Here's another cover. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i5mCi8lhqsW6pas.html

Yo great react epic performance and one of the few COVERS that I enjoy more than the original!! But seriously, what's up with that spaz "JUICY" in the comments? That's some A.I. Spaz Logic just sayin!

And he was sick lol

I am an originalist and this covet blows out the original .. and I never say that ... qnd to think he was sick when he did this live ... a very hauting warning ⚠️ 😳

The music video really lends itself to the religious interpretation of this song. A lot of the imagery looks to come straight from Biblical stories.

Art Garfunkel was the singer. Not Paul Simon.

This is an upgrade, not a cover...

The answer is 'no, definitely not' lol

I believe that it's a better cover, but that's just my opinion

no

And...he had fever and the flu this night

I gave u a like..but Jesus Christ..just listen and then comment. This song is too deep to absorb and analyze at the same time..lol

You should listen to Working class hero by John Lennon😊very good lyrics

ITS ABOUT THE WORDS>>>WORDS, NOT THE MUSIC>>>>>I learned these very words over 50 years ago and they are straight from the WORD of GOD!.., This is NOT about the music, it is about our changes of common sense thinking for decades now, people have changed and not for the better.., Discipline is coming soon for our disobedience to God and HIS plan and how many have made up their own Neon Gods to replace the TRUE GOD.,, Our SILENCE against the LORD is LOUD AND CLEAR, the LORD will not tolerate our Arrogance much longer!!!.,, The LORD gives us SIGNS, EVERY SINGLE DAY, but what do we do, WE stay SLIENT, instead of SHOUTING from the mountain top, to CEASE from our EVILS!.,, WE IGNORE HIM!!!.., LOOK at how the Gov. has separated our country, we NO LONGER communicate, face to face, we no longer share the WORD or the music of the LORD in our schools and campuses.,, These are all now against the law says the Gov..., So why do we NOW follow the plan of Satan and give our GOD GIVEN RIGHTS to the criminals of CHRIST???

What the hell are you listening to? DISTURBED? 🤣 Uh ha ha ha ha .. uh ha...ha!

nope too much talkie on to the next

Fun fact, the singer actually had a cold during this performance

It's tone is so poignant...

¿¿ autotune ???

Sorry, but no. In my opinion there are only a few coversongs who are better than the originals, and this is not one of them.......

Enough of the disturbed sos reaction band wagon please.!

You asked, " is the cover better than the original?" NO, not even close. Not even in the same universe.

Was the cover better than the original? NO.

No, absolutely not is your answer.

Cover sucks compared to the OG.

it is pretty good - I guess when you 50 years to improve it, it should be better. but it is still not as good as the original.