Simon and Garfunkel’s song “The Sound of Silence” rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January of 1966, even reaching No. 1 at the time. That’s more than 50 years ago, if that math wasn’t self-evident, as it was perhaps tied in the minds of listeners with the poignant final scene of The Graduate. Now, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel find “The Sound of Silence” on the charts again, thanks, in part, to people’s affinity for making fun of Ben Affleck. So, same thing.
“The Sound of Silence” finds itself at No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart. This is kind of odd, as is, because it seems weird to call “The Sound of Silence” a rock song, but that’s not what is important here. What’s important is that a viral YouTube video featuring Ben Affleck is responsible for this happening. The video, popularly called “Sad Affleck,” features Affleck and Henry Cavill promoting their film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Whilst Cavill talks, Affleck stares into the distance, at which point “The Sound of Silence” kicks in. This is how a song gets popular these days.
Streaming is largely responsible for this rise. “The Sound of Silence” is No. 2 on the Rock Streaming Songs chart. It has been streamed 5.6 million times in the United States during the time period being measured, with 5.1 million of those streams coming from YouTube. However, it gets weirder. This isn’t even the only appearance from “The Sound of Silence” on the charts. Disturbed’s cover of the song is No. 3 on Hot Rock Songs, and it’s No. 51 on the Hot 100. It’s now the highest charting Disturbed song in their career.
So, if you are a classic folk duo looking to get a little buzz going for you, consider building a meme around Ben Affleck. It’s now a proven avenue of success.
(via Billboard)
