Music Challenge - 25 days, 25 songs (12)

This challenge, started by @jokossita here, is a great incentive to dig into those dusty old memories. Music can have powerful associations to a life long forgotten - hopefully more good than not.

Day 12

The last song you heard
I love how this song is so powerful, both musically and with its message. It is a cover, but in my opinion it is much better than the original (and I don't often say that!).

So what song did I choose? The Sound Of Silence by Disturbed

According to the (original) song's Wikipedia page, written by Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel fame:

The song's origin and basis remain unclear, with multiple answers coming forward over the years.

... and, although there had been speculation the song was about the JFK assassination it was actually written before that event took place ...

Garfunkel once summed up the song's meaning as "the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly internationally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other."

Surprisingly, the song was not an immediate hit. If you are curious, here is the original from 1964, with its folksy sound:

How did Paul Simon feel about Disturbed's cover of his song?

In April 2016, Paul Simon endorsed the cover. Additionally, on April 1, Simon sent lead vocalist Draiman an email praising Disturbed's performance of the rendition on late-night talk show Conan. Simon wrote: "Really powerful performance on Conan the other day. First time I'd seen you do it live. Nice. Thanks." Draiman responded, "Mr. Simon, I am honored beyond words. We only hoped to pay homage and honor to the brilliance of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Your compliment means the world to me/ us and we are eternally grateful."

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On the band's Wikipedia page there is mention of their mascot:

Disturbed's mascot, named "The Guy", was originally just a drawing of a face with a large grin, as seen on the back of the album The Sickness. The original drawing of The Guy was then edited using a digital distorting program. After the original image had been distorted three times The Guy became the official mascot for the band. Later, he would be drawn as a full figure by artist David Finch.

He is one pretty freaky-looking don't-mess-with-me dude!

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This is the list from which the music challenge is based off of. I will be modifying some of the questions if more fitting.

Come along on this musical journey with me.