Last Saturday, I got to see a concert of one of my favorite bands in existence: Switchfoot. They are an amazing band with a message of hope and intentionality to spread to the world.
I wholeheartedly recommend their music, with thirteen albums released in the last twenty-two years, their setlist can be rather daunting. Since I’m still pumped from the concert, I decided to put together a starter pack of some of my personal favorite songs, which will hopefully give you a flavor of their music.
LIVE IT WELL
"Life is short; I wanna live it well
One life, one story to tell."
This is a beautiful anthem for living life to the fullest, and the best way to get chills is to sing it with hundreds of other people in the middle of a concert.
THIS IS YOUR LIFE
“This is your life
Is it everything you dreamed that it would be,
when the world was younger
and you had everything to lose?"
Switchfoot’s fourth album, The Beautiful Letdown, is like an existential crisis in your headphones—but in a good way, if that makes sense? It’s the kind of music that makes you wake up and realize that you’ve only got one life to live, and it’s passing by fast. “Meant to Live,” “This is Your Life,” and “Dare You To Move” are a trio of songs on the album that tell three perspectives of the same message. And they’re all jams.
GONE
"Like yesterday is gone
Like history is gone
The world keeps spinning on
You're going going gone."
This song is a walk down memory lane for me, because it’s the song I used to sing along to at the top of my lungs on long car drives with my family. It’s a good one, and it’s definitely worth memorizing all the words so you can lip-sync to it and look awesome.
SLIPPING AWAY
"Remember coming home at four in the morning
Before the sun was up
Back when the east was a fire of gold
Just waiting for the rest of the sky to fall in love...
Oh, hope is just a metaphor, of something better
For all of our dreams tonight."
An underrated favorite of mine, this song sounds like running down to the shores of the beach at dawn. Even if you don’t surf, this song somehow makes you feel like surfing. How does that happen? Switchfoot music, apparently.
RESTLESS
"I am the sea on a moonless night,
Calling, falling, slipping tides
I am the leaky, dripping pipes
The endless aching drops of light
I am the raindrop falling down,
Always longing for the deeper ground
I am the broken, breaking seas
Even my blood finds ways to bleed."
A lyrical masterpiece, this song echoes the feeling of dissatisfaction as we search the world for something beyond ourselves, something that matters.
WHERE I BELONG
"Where the weak are finally strong
Where the righteous right the wrongs
I'm still looking for a home
In a world where I belong."
A lot of Switchfoot songs seem to be written to frame a feeling. If “Restless” is the question, the ache for somewhere to belong, then “Where I Belong” seems like the sequel and the answer.
AWAKENING
"Last week saw me living for nothing but deadlines,
With my dead beat sky but, this town doesn't look the same tonight
These dreams started singing to me out of nowhere
And in all my life I don't know if I've ever felt so alive.
Another favorite. This one needs no explanation.
NATIVE TONGUE
"I want the world to sing in her native tongue
To sing it like when we were young
Back before the pendulum had swung to the shadows."
This is the title song for their latest album, and I only just heard this song for the first time at the concert. Wow. What a jam.
THIS IS HOME
"I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it
Maybe this is home,
This is home."
You’ve probably heard this song before and didn’t know it was them, but this is the classic heart wrenchingly beautiful music that closed the end credits of one of the Narnia movies (Prince Caspian, 2008).
LOVE ALONE IS WORTH THE FIGHT
"And we find what we're made of
Through the open door
Is it fear you're afraid of?
What are you waiting for?
Love alone is worth the fight."
The kind of song that feels like road-tripping down the Pacific Coast highway. Definitely the song everyone sang the loudest at the concert, probably because it’s a classic.
Switchfoot explores a lot of questions through their music—of home and belonging, of love and family, of looking for meaning in our lives, and of finding hope in the midst of a broken world. Especially in today’s world, their searching for a life beyond simple existence is relatable and powerful. Hope you enjoy their music as much as I do.
<3 Olivia Grace
