Music vs. Noise

[Source: jonboy!]

I love writing in a busy place. I can't figure out why exactly, but I think it has something to do with the way it makes me feel invisible. Like right now, I'm sitting in Starbucks at my favorite table, typing away with my headphones on. In the last hour, probably twenty or thirty people have walked in, ordered their coffee, chatted with a friend, and walked out without ever acknowledging my presence. It's like I'm hiding out in plain sight. It's a weirdly safe feeling, but something about it keeps me dialed in to my writing. It's like background noise, only in this case it's visual noise rather than audible.

I've been thinking quite a bit about noise this morning. Most often, when we think of noise, we are thinking of unorganized, audible sounds, like pots clanking together or anything by Lana Del Ray. The operative word here is unorganized. Random pots clanking produces a purposeless, meaningless sound. It's something that ultimately doesn't mean anything. In a word, it's forgettable. Now contrast this with a symphony. A symphony also involves banging things together, but it's organized and moves to a very specific tempo. It's purposeful sound, sound in a direction. Symphonies impact people; noise is easily ignored. Nobody gets moved to tears by listening to their dishwasher.

This principle applies to more than just music, too. When you take stock of everything that makes up your life today, which does it resemble more, a symphony or noise? What's your direction, your aim? What are you trying to say? If your life was a song, would people have it on their iPod? Would anyone say it meant something to them?

Bless This Mess

Probably my favorite memory of the summer was the night Jeff and I drove up to Fishtown to see Dave Bazan. Jeff is a big Bazan fan and has been for some time, while I’ve never been very familiar with the former Pedro the Lion frontman’s work. But Jeffrey is my go-to guy when it comes to good music, so when he invited me to join him for the band’s Philly concert, I agreed to tag along. That night in June we drove up to the city with the windows down, maneuvering our way through the various boroughs of North Philly until we arrived at Johnny Brenda’s. Once inside, we grabbed a few beers and wiggled through the crowd for good placement just as the opening band was finishing up their set, and soon after they were followed by Bazan and his band. I only knew the handful of songs Jeff had been playing for me throughout the week, but they sounded fantastic and put on a really great show.

After multiple pleads for an encore, Bazan came back out by himself to play a few more songs for the hipster crowd, ending with "Hard to Be." And I remember those final moments of the show being curiously surreal: me standing there with about 200 or so twentysomethings in skinny jeans and plaid shirts, all of us singing together with one voice about the tragedy of the human condition…

You’ve heard the story, you know how it goes
Once upon a garden, we were lovers with no clothes
Fresh from the soil, we were beautiful and true
In control of our emotions til we ate the poisoned fruit

And now it's hard to be, hard to be
Hard to be a decent human being

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More than ever, I’ve spent this summer coming to terms with the depths of my own depravity. It seems like every time I turn around, I’m being reminded of just how twisted and broken I am. My actions, my words, my thoughts and emotions…everything within me is contaminated, selfish to the core. And these defects I possess affect everything and everyone with whom I come in contact with on a daily basis. This is further complicated by the fact that I call myself a Christian, and when you call yourself a Christian you set for yourself a certain standard of living by which other people hold you accountable to, and it becomes much harder to be open about your shortcomings than before. You eventually end up trying to hide all the imperfect things about your life, because if you don’t you will make Jesus look bad, and the weight of your iniquities becomes increasingly unbearable. 

It’s for this reason that another Bazan song, "Bless This Mess," has been my constant companion this summer. The lyrics are simple: “God bless the man who stumbles / God bless the man who falls / God bless the man who yields to temptation.” I love this because in very simple words, Dave Bazan is telling my story back to me. I am the man who stumbles. I am the man who falls. I am the man who yields to temptation. I am, by all accounts, a complete and total mess. Because like we sang that night in Fishtown, it’s hard to be a decent human being. And so I sing “Bless This Mess” because it is the only hope I have to hold onto. I am not “decent.” I do not deserve kindness, or mercy, or unfailing grace. My only hope is that the God of the universe will bless this mess, sparing me the judgment that is due me and providing me with strength to make it through the day. 

It’s true what they say about Jesus, you know: he saves. We don’t have to be good enough any more. Grace is free. And that means messes like me have the kind of hope that has substance to it. I really have been rescued. Christ really has paid my debt. And I may be a mess, but thankfully that is not the end of the story. Because grace was designed for messes like me.

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This Is What Summer Sounds Like

So it is June, and summer is here. After a winter that had me questioning whether I was living in Narnia, it’s about dang time too. And with summer comes all the things you wait all year long to do: trips to the beach, long drives with the windows down, late nights on the back deck with old friends and a bonfire. In times like these, it is imperative that one have the proper tunes on hand. Here’s my submission for a summer mixtape.

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Summer Girls – LFO
The Remedy (I Won’t Worry) – Jason Mraz
West Coast Kid – Paul Wright
Forget You – Cee Lo Green
Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
Follow Me – Uncle Kracker
Thanks & Praise – G. Love
Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show
Send Me On My Way – Rusted Root
Sunshine – Matt Costa
Hey Now – TobyMac
Beg Steal Or Borrow – Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs
More Than Fine – Switchfoot
Bubble Toes– Jack Johnson
Armed and Dangerous – The High Life
Jamie All Over – Mayday Parade
Fireflies – Owl City
The Mixed Tape – Jack’s Mannequin
I Must Be Dreaming – The Maine
Chapstick, Chapped Lips, And Things Like Chemistry – Relient K
The Joker – Steve Miller Band

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Got any suggestions? Share them with the rest of the class below in the comments.

This Is What Fall Sounds Like

I love the seasons. I know some people wish it were summer all year round, but not me. Living in Philly, you get to see all four seasons, and I relish the beauty each one brings. For instance, you only really get that crisp-smelling air when fall rolls around. And the way all creation appears to be waking from a deep sleep in spring is incredible to behold. I love this dynamic in part because it always keeps things feeling fresh, but also because I think it mirrors the way our lives are constantly in flux, always moving from one "season" of life to the next. Something about the seasons just seems right.


Going along with that, I tend to think of music in terms of seasons as well. I like to imagine the seasons as movements in a musical, where each act has its own feel and rhythm to it, wholly unique from the other three. If that were the case, the musical score would likely differ depending on the act, right? This is why you like certain songs in the summertime driving with the top down, but not so much in the dead of winter. It fits the vibe of one season but feels out of place in the other. Just as life is constantly changing, so also the soundtrack of our life changes as we move from one season to another.


With that in mind, here’s my submission for a fall playlist. A scouring of my iTunes library turned up about twenty songs that I think play really well against a fall backdrop. For me, changing leaves and declining temperatures = jangly guitars and raspy vocals, with a touch of alt-rock to mix things up. Have a look-see.

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Freelance Whales – Generator (First Floor)
The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
Monsters of Folk – Dear God
Alexi Murdoch – Orange Sky
Matt Pond PA – So Much Trouble
Jon Foreman – The Cure for Pain
M. Ward - For Beginners
Ray LaMontagne - Hold You In My Arms
Lisa Hannigan – I Don’t Know
Sufjan Stevens – Chicago
The Welcome Wagon – I Am Not Skilled To Understand
Athlete - Tourist
Mute Math – Spotlight
Paper Route – Are We All Forgotten
Death Cab for Cutie – Marching Bands Of Manhattan
Andrew Bird – Oh No
Mat Kearney – Poor Boy
Glen Hansard – Falling Slowly
Joel Howard – Here's to the Journey
The Republic Tigers – Buildings & Mountains
Andy McKee – For My Father