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




Behind the Song:

"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." - Jon Foreman (Switchfoot)