In this episode of Music & Meaning, we take you on a sonic sojourn. We’re dialing back the clock to the dusty scrolls of St. Augustine—the original bad-boy rock star turned philosopher-saint, a proto–Kendrick Lamar with parchment and pen, not a playlist. Now, picture Augustine with a pair of Apple AirPods nodding to today’s Top 40. What does he hear? Beats that drop harder than Roman empires and lyrics that scratch at the eternal itch of the human heart. Augustine’s own lyrics, his Confessions, had it all: pride, sex, sin, and salvation—the same stuff fueling our hit parade today. Listen as Charlie and his cohost, Augustine, sample the charts and the lyrical stories we tell each other and the world. It’s confession time. Bend a knee while we bend your ears.
Charlie Peacock is a Grammy Award–winning, Billboard chart–topping music producer, composer, and recording artist. He is a cofounder of the Art House, Wedgwood Circle, and founder/director emeritus of the commercial music program at Lipscomb University. Charlie has produced music for film and television, including A Walk to Remember, Chris Cornell’s “Misery Chain” from the soundtrack of 12 Years a Slave, and “Hush,” the title theme to the AMC drama Turn: Washington’s Spies. Named by Billboard’s The Encyclopedia of Record Producers as one of the 500 most important producers in music history, Charlie is also a three-time recipient of the Gospel Music Award for Producer of the Year. His books include Why Everything That Doesn’t Matter, Matters So Much; New Way to Be Human; At the Crossroads; and a contribution to It Was Good: Making Music to the Glory of God. Charlie is the senior music editor for Christianity Today and host of the CT podcast Music and Meaning. He has been married to writer Andi Ashworth for nearly 50 years and they have two grown, married children and four grandchildren.
“Music and Meaning” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Matt Stevens
Produced and Written by Charlie Peacock and Mike Cosper
Original Music and Editing by David LaChance and Charlie Peacock
Mix Engineer: Mark Owens
Show theme, “Sound of the Room,” composed by Charlie Peacock, featuring bassist John Patitucci
Narrator (voice of Augustine): Kevin Max
Performance of “Fast Car” by Ruby Amanfu and Sam Ashworth
Performance of “Cruel Summer” by Bridget Ashworth
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