In 1964, Paul Simon wrote a song he hated. In 2026, it has been heard over 700,000,000 times

Paul Simon wrote ‘The Sound of Silence’ in 1964, but the song’s early commercial failure helped leave Simon and Garfunkel briefly considering their future as a band. A later folk-rock arrangement, made by a producer without Simon’s involvement, transformed the acoustic recording and helped turn it into a defining song of the 1960s.

Simon reportedly disliked the new version, which added electric guitars and other backing to the original track. Guitarist Al Gorgoni described the recording as crude but said it demonstrated the strength of Simon’s songwriting. The article says the song has since been heard more than 700 million times, though it does not specify the platform or measurement.