The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)

This song is amazing! I first heard it on the Blackberry Stone commercial. Then I heard a cover of it. A really good cover. And then I looked up when the album was coming out, and whaddya know? It came out today! Anyway, I think the song is about how we need help because we're destroying all that belongs to us.

Jon Foreman- "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."

YES! Such an awesome song. My fave from the album I think the line "This is the sound, from the discontented mouths" sums the feel of the perfectly. This song is about determination to be heard, a sound nobody should ignore. Sadly, top dogs around teh world ignore it. Jon's explanation was riveting and thanks for posting it but, cheeseninja, lets hear your opinion

YES! Such an awesome song. My fave from the album I think the line "This is the sound, from the discontented mouths" sums the feel of the perfectly. This song is about determination to be heard, a sound nobody should ignore. Sadly, top dogs around teh world ignore it. Jon's explanation was riveting and thanks for posting it but, cheeseninja, lets hear your opinion

i think he wants people to listen to something that means a lot to him. His heart beats for it and it's so powerful you "can't drown it out".

I don't buy it.

This is not history. This is not the past. This is the voice of the generation now entering the workforce; trying to build their lives on the ruins left in the wake of past generations' squandering.

This is a crying out, indeed, and a hopeful wake-up call. But what can so few who hear 'the sound' do when the rest prefer to be deaf to it?

Kudos to Switchfoot, and the generation of a nation hoping to be heard. At least -they're- listening to the kids. Nobody else is.

Jon Foreman- "The Sound (John Perkins' Blues) is a very important song for us as a band. I see so much hatred and fear around me, I see so many people living out their pain. I hear it on the radio. I see it in the headlines. John Perkins' story needs to be heard. This song was inspired by a man who sang a louder song than hatred. In a world where we are defined by our differences, Mr. Perkins' life of service and compassion is a tangible demonstration of what it means to live a life of love. Love is the loudest song we could sing. Louder than racism. Louder than fear. Louder than hatred. John Perkins said it right, love is the final fight. We're excited to hear this song on the radio, louder than pain."