"An anchor on a stone" --> "In nacre on a stone"
Wow! Nacre! I love that both of those "hearings" seem to work, even though nacre is such a beautiful image and really goes with the pearlescent imagery.
Another thing I just wanted to throw in here - I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but "infinite regress" is a philosophical "problem" (if that's the correct designation). Here's the definition from http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Infinite_regress :
Infinite regress is a series of an infinitely cascading propositions, where the validity of one depends on the validity of the one which follows and/or proceeds it. Viciously circular infinite regressions, are propositions which reintroduce their own proposition in the solution. One example of a viciously infinite regression arises in intelligent design creationism; which states that there are problems in the theory of Darwinian evolution by natural selection which can only be resolved by invoking a designer or first cause without proposing a solution to the immediate question "who designed the designer?" Despite that, the response to this is an example of special pleading, creationists assert that God is an eternal presence which did not need to create Himself. No evidence for this has ever been presented for peer review, or critical analysis of any kind.
The "Turtles all the way down" anecdote illustrates a popular example of infinite regress:
“”A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: "What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise." The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?" "You're very clever, young man, very clever", said the old lady. "But it's turtles all the way down!
—Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
Another thing that always comes to my mind when listening to the "how do you choose your form..." section of the song is a little scene in the movie The Tree of Life by Terrence Malick... I've only seen it once, and it's so dreamy that I'm not sure I remember it very well, but there's one scene that shows a group of children in a house, and they are attended by some people (can't remember if it was one or more?) who seem to be giving them some instruction or direction or basic information about the lives they'll be incarnating into, and they are at some point ushered out the door into water through which they kick and rise. Does anyone else remember it? It was one of the most striking images for me in that movie full of striking images, and gave me such goosebumps at the time. I thought it was an interesting image partially because it's a reversal of the direction usually assigned to the movement of incarnation - from the depths upwards towards an earthly life as opposed to the traditional heavens/sky down into flesh. And also it was a beautiful way of imagining a process of either incarnating into gestation in the womb or just being born.
Sorry this is so long! I'd love to hear any more thoughts on this song, especially as she's identified the title as the basic theme of the album...