Switchfoot Celebrate Freedom
In addition to the AC single, Switchfoot's Hello Hurricane has sparked the Top 10 Modern Rock hit "The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)," which continues to climb the charts and is the featured song in the fall CSI: Miami promotional video that can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozHZpqWufY.
Check out the inspiration behind the current radio singles by Switchfoot's Jon Foreman:
your love is a song
I hear you breathing in
another day begins
the stars are falling out
my dreams are fading now, fading out
I've been keeping my eyes wide open
I've been keeping my eyes wide open
your love is a symphony
all around me
running through me
your love is a melody
underneath me
running to me
your love is a song
the dawn is fire bright
against the city lights
the clouds are glowing now
the moon is blacking out
I've been keeping my mind wide open
I've been keeping my mind wide open
your love is a song
with my eyes wide open
I've got my eyes wide open
I've been keeping my hopes unbroken
"But the beauty of Einstein's equations, for example, is just as real to anyone who's experienced it as the beauty of music. We've learned in the 20th century that the equations that work have inner harmony." -Edward Witten
"I would believe only in a God that knows how to Dance." -Friedrich Nietzsche
"Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked." -Viktor Frankl
For me, melody is a constant. I am always buzzing with some hook or rhythm or idea... (for example, I've got an idea in my head now from when I went surfing a few hours ago). Sometimes I imagine the entire universe as a song, or an incredibly elaborate symphony- the sun is setting, there's a kid staring at the evening train going by. People are falling in love. Fathers are apologizing to their sons after years of unspoken silence. Children are looking for the approval that only a mother can give. I think of life as an interwoven and interconnected masterpiece. It's like Lauren Hill and Kierkegaard say- everything effects everything.
Alongside these beautiful, pure notes there are elements of horrific dissonance. Parts of the symphony where the musicians are not following the score. To our shame, ours is a world of slavery, bigotry, and hate. Of Rwanda. Of Darfur. These atonal catastrophes on our Darkwater Planet would destroy the song if they could. But love is a stronger song. Alongside the dissonance there is hope. There is forgiveness and joy singing alongside of hatred and despair. The song is still being written. Everyday we choose whether we will submit to the score to sing along with love.
When I found out about the string theory it made a lot of sense. I pictured all the universe vibrating. Some instruments are out of tune. Some are not following the conductor. But love conquers a multitude of errors. Your love can cover even the atrocities that I've committed in my own life, even the times when my actions are horribly out of tune. Yes, even these have been mercifully forgiven and brought into the song.
There are reoccurring themes in my life. Because I write about the things I'm wrestling, these themes often find themselves in multiple songs. I used fight against this concept. Now I see these songs as interconnected, sequels in a real life documentary. One idea that I'm continually wresting with is the concept that the creator of heavens and earth would love a wreck like myself. This idea has been the seed for a few of my songs, they are a trilogy of sorts: "Let Your Love Be Strong," "Your Love is Strong," and "Your Love is a Song."
I wrote this song with Mike Elizondo the first day we worked together. The pre-chorus hook was the seed for the rest of it. Mike was great about sitting back and letting me chew on something until I got it. It was as though we were looking at the same thing from different vantage points, mine was the micro scope- his the telescope. So he would guide the song from a bird's eye view away from some of the dangerous places while I was trudging along with the particulars. I love writing with people, you learn so much about who they are in the process. I learned enough from this song that I trusted Mike's instincts a lot.
the sound (john m. perkins blues)
The static comes in slow
You can feel it grow
Our stream of conscience flows
Under the streets below
The rivers made of sound
Still running underground
Runs like a silent flood
we run as thick as blood
can you hear it rise
up from the ground
can't drown it out
can you hear it now
this is the sound
of a heartbeat
this is the sound
from the discontented mouths
of a haunted nation
we are the voice of breaking
down
can you hear me?
this is the sound
of the desperation bound
by our own collision
we are the voice of breaking
down
the static comes alive
beneath the broken skies
john perkins said it right
love is the final fight
let it rise above
rise above
there is no song
louder than love
"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." -Anne Lamott
"When we talk about heaven we talk about all people praising God together. Well, I didn't meet many people down here that were Christians that were trying to make that happen." -John Perkins
This was the last minute addition to the record. When we were making the final list, I showed this song to Tim (he's my first line of defense- If it gets past Tim, then there's a chance we'll track it). He was as excited as I was. We wanted to have a song with a steady, relentless pulse on the record and we all knew that this one fit the bill. The chorus was originally much more of a straightforward lyric, maybe too much so. So we redid the chorus and began to rewrite the verse lyrics to match the chorus vibe.
Lyrically, I feel like this song is a corollary of Hello Hurricane. I was reading a book at the time, Let Justice Roll Down- it's the autobiography of John Perkins, given to me by a friend of mine. I was struck by Perkins' honesty and humility. He describes the Jim Crow world of not so very long ago with brutal honesty. We are a haunted nation. Whether we admit it or not, the past runs through our veins. Listen to the streets, they'll tell you the same. We can cover up our racism and narrow-minded bigotry with excuses and time but the sins of the past cry out from the ground. The undercurrents from our history are always buzzing around our ears. But rising above the constant gnawing of past wrongs is the song of Love. Love is the reconciliation. The deliberate act of forgiveness. The deliberate act of moving forward unencumbered by the past. This is the sound. This is the sound.
Originally published September 10, 2010.
