Sound vs. Noise

Bear with me on this one.

Two weeks ago, I was driving to the hospital and listening to this song by Sufjan Stevens:


In case you're not a big Sufjan nerd, like I am, let me explain: this song, from his latest Christmas collection, is a good example of where he has gone sonically in his recent work (especially his last non-Christmas album, The Age of Adz) - he still makes beautiful, melodic, sort-of-folksy songs; but, lately, he seems transfixed by sound.

The last ten minutes of "The Child With The Star On His Head" are an extended dive into sound: distorted guitar, electronic beeps and drones, drum machine beats. Sufjan seems to revel in creating and exploring sounds, and it shows in all the music he's made. Even before he really embraced all these electronic elements, he recorded tracks that were really meditations on sound.

Thinking about all this made me wonder: what makes me enjoy listening to Sufjan's more experimental music? Isn't it just noise? What distinguishes the last two thirds of that song from all the random noises I hear everyday?

To me, it's more than just having a beat or notes. Sufjan's sonic meditations are enjoyable because of his intention. He's reveling in sound.

It makes me think of me "playing" the piano: I don't know how to play the piano. I know how to read music and know which keys play which notes, but I've never been trained in putting that together on a piano. But, I love just sitting at a piano and making sounds - seeing what interesting combinations of notes I can find, hitting the real low notes to make a nice dark sound and the high notes for sort of a shimmery sound. Whatever I'm doing, it's simply for the sake of sound. 

Sound has purpose. 

Noise is just a byproduct, it's just a side effect of something else. A jackhammer may have a rhythm but it's noise is only the result of tearing up a sidewalk. 

Where does all this have a point?

It made me think: am I making sound or am I making noise?

Our lives can either be a continual dive into the mystery of God, the mystery of Love; or they can be noise: just trying to force our way through life, thinking that if we try hard enough we can make ourselves happy.

Let's just sit in the sound of Love.