Chapter 1 examines the history of noise regulation in the British Gold Coast. Central to the discussion are the racial politics behind noise control, which in turn were informed by evolutionary sonic and religious taxonomies that classified bodies and the sounds they produced into primitive and civilized categories. Much like their counterparts elsewhere in the world, the Gold Coast’s noise control ordinances were presented as a public-oriented intervention designed to enhance the well-being of citizens. In practice, however, they targeted lower-class Gold Coast residents and censured their lifestyles and beliefs. Religious affiliation played a crucial role in how different sounds were classified and regulated. The disagreeable sound of “heathenism” ascribed to the residents of Accra was contrasted with the supposedly refined tastes of Europeans, whose aural sensibilities were shaped by their Christian background.