let me in the theoacoustic/holosonic Sound, God

“Acoustemology..an exploration of sonic sensibilities, specifically of ways in which sound is central to making sense, to knowing, to experiential truth. "
-Feld

"It's time church leaders developed a philosophy of soundness, even a sound spirituality.
-Leonard Sweet, "Summoned to Lead"


It might have been just my U2intuitiveness,
but as you can tell by my post when the first single of the upcoming album came out
it felt like the "let me in the sound" outro/prayer in that songs was somehow more than a spliced tag-on at the end of one song (2:28ff in the clip). It felt like the lyric (and the sound) was something larger; perhaps a metanarrative/motif/midrash for the whole CD/tour/season.

And now we hear (literally here, play the third song) that the "let me in the sound" lyric is looped into another song ("Fez-Being Born") or two, and may well be the name of the upcoming tour (the tour itself is rumored to feature breakthrough holosonic technology--"sound spotlights," if you will--that well, let listeners into the sound).

And now we read that the song "Breathe" includes the line
"I found grace inside a sound."

"'Let me in the sound'" is a repeated lyrical motif .. The theme of the album is surrender." - Neil McCormick

How does sound connect to surrender?
"Sound confronts us with interiority, Craig Matson suggests,"To hear is to relinquish our place as sovereign spectators and managers in the world and to position ourselves in medias res as morally obligated and mortally vulnerable hearers of the word."
-Craig Matson

For a student of acoustemology/theo-acoustics, theology of sound, this is engaging stuff.
Of course, the core premise of string theory is that life/God are at core, sound. That sound is somehow the most fundamental sense is suggested by scientists worldwide.
I just finished teaching a leadership class centerpieced around Leonard Sweet's amazing sonogram/book,
"Summoned the Lead"{Chapters one and two online here}.

I often return to Stephen H. Webb's loaded "The Divine Voice: Christian Proclamation and the Theology of Sound."

But my life is soundtracked by U2.

We in the church have often been more concerned with sound doctrine and sound mind (good and godly things), but at the expense of a sound theology of sound.

God is longing to meet us in the sound, but we miss out wait for him by sight.



In the song "Unknown Caller," (of which McCormick offers,
"Words and music dovetail in surprising ways that send the senses spinning."),
the lyrics include:

"Escape yourself/and gravity/Hear Me/ cease to speak/ that I may speak/Hush now."




Bono free-associates his thoughts on the album:

"Lifeforce, joy, innovation, emotional honesty, analogue not digital, home-made not pro-tooled, unique sonic landscape...
Soul music for the frenzied, rock music for the still."

Only the still hear/see/are let fully into the Sound of the sonic landscape.

"Let me in the sound sound
God I'm going down
..Meet me in the sound"