Top 10 Switchfoot Songs

By: James Southworth

Even if I wasn't as big on "Native Tongue" in comparison to most of Switchfoot's backing catalog, I can't deny the influence so many of their songs had on me. They were one of the first bands I remember ever hearing on the radio and falling in love with. I sort of had a falling out with their music in my early teenage years for whatever reason, but I returned back to them much more significantly when "Vice Verses" came out (my third favorite Switchfoot album). With their new album having come out so recently, I thought it was fitting to do another top 10. Remember, this is just my opinion. Here is my list!

Honorable Mentions: "Mess of Me", "24", "The War Inside", "Ba55", "Oh! Gravity", "Prodigal Soul", "If The House Burns Down Tonight", "Thrive", "Red Eyes", "Meant to Live", "The Blues", "Lonely Nation"

10. "Awakening" (Oh! Gravity)

Out of all of Switchfoot's releases, I would say the one that is the most infamously controversial is "Oh! Gravity". I would debate that controversy is for good reason. While I don't necessarily dislike the album, it was a pretty mixed bag of weird takes on the rock/alternative genre. There were some gems on there though, especially this track. If you don't love the epic, anthemic side of Switchfoot, then I'm not sure what's wrong with you. This track is so much fun for that reason. You just feel like you have to sing along with it; the chorus is almost instantaneously catchy. The guitars in this track are some of the most unbridled on any Switchfoot song. Jon Foreman sounds like he's having a simply great time on vocals. There's an obvious reason why this song continues to be one of the band's most popular, as well as one of the only ones that's heavily remembered from "Oh! Gravity". Chances are you may have heard this song and not even realized it. Check it out if you haven't.

9. "This Is Home" (The Best Yet)

Anytime I hear this song, I can't help but get emotional. I think probably the main reason for that is this song connects to the movie "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe", one of my favorite movies of all time (and also what I consider to be the best book to movie adaptation ever). I tend to not like it when bands try to take themes from a movie in to their own music, because often times it comes across as forced. Not for Switchfoot, though. I think this mainly comes in the powerful lyricism here, easily some of the band's best: "Belief over misery/I've seen the enemy/And I won't go back/Back to how it was/And I got my heart set on what happens next". This song looks very optimistically towards finding a new sense of home rather than focusing on the horrible things that have happened in the past. I like that the song subtly reveals how the idea of 'home' isn't a place; rather, it's the people that surround you and care about you. The whole band is firing on all cylinders here, delivering a beautiful gut punch of a track that is more than worthy of a spot on my list.

8. "The Setting Sun" (Nothing Is Sound)

Out of all the cuts I have on my list, this is the one that I view as the most underrated, as well as one of the band's most overlooked songs in general. There's something about this track that just screams nostalgia to me. It's not like I heard this song much when I was younger (I heard cuts like "Meant To Live" and "Dare You To Move" way more). But still, just the way the song sounds makes me feel like I'm young again. Once you delve past the musicality of this song, you encounter a track that is one of the band's darkest and most honest. That's fitting, because this song comes off of the band's darkest- and best, in my opinion- album, "Nothing Is Sound". This cut works perfectly in context of the album, as Foreman talks very frankly about how he feels like he can never move on from his broken state: "I've got a wound that doesn't heal/Burning out again". But, Foreman refuses to let the darkness get the best of him, and instead tries to have a world-weary hopefulness about where he'll end up: "It won't be long, I belong/Somewhere past the setting sun/Finally free, finally strong". This is the aspect of Switchfoot I like the most: they are brutally honest about the hurt we all have, but they are also think there is a chance to move past all that through our relationships with God and each other.

7. "Needle and Haystack Life" (Hello Hurricane)

The opening to "Hello Hurricane" found the band wanting to redefine their sound after feeling it was severely compromised somewhere in the mix between "The Beautiful Letdown" and "Oh! Gravity". The band felt like they needed to reinvigorate themselves. This album came out at a pretty devastating point in certain parts of America, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This song opens the album on just the right note: brimming with joy and excitement for what the future can bring. The band discusses how in the aftermath of a disaster, the world can have the potential to live again in a unique way. What works most about this song is its sound. It is so classically Switchfoot in every sense of the word, and yet it's also entirely new sounding. The subtle electronic flares work, and the dynamic bass work is incredible. I adore the chorus to this song, as Foreman is able to let his vocals soar to some heights that we hadn't seen in the past. This song has an atmosphere to it that does make it feel perfect to listen to on the beach, which I think was exactly the band's intent.

6. "Dark Horses" (Vice Verses)

Even though this is the only song from "Vice Verses" on this list, I can't emphasize enough that I really love that album. It saw Switchfoot doing some really incredible things sonically, amping up their sound to an almost hard rock level. And in other places, the album became the softest the band had ever been, which sort of embodies perfectly the release's title. "Dark Horses" will always hold a special place in my heart, because it is the song that brought me back to Switchfoot after a couple of years where I wasn't actively listening to them. This song's title is abundantly fitting, as like a dark horse, this song itself was not looked at as a song that would be one of the band's more popular singles, and yet it became so. The guitar riff in this cut is one of the band's most iconic. It cuts hard, while still having a nice radio ready accessibility to it. The chorus is excellent, probably one of my favorite ever choruses from the band. Foreman also lets his voice near screaming at times, which is something that he so rarely does. Everything about this song goes against what Switchfoot does normally, which is why I like it so much.

5. "Politicians" (Nothing Is Sound)

And yet, for as hard rocking as "Dark Horses" is, "Politicians" is in a category all of its own. I think this is undoubtedly Switchfoot's most intense song to date, on both a lyrical and a musical level. Musically, the guitar riffs get the closest to crossing the boundaries between hard rock and metal. The drums pound away, and Jon Foreman does actually scream on the track. Out of all the songs I listen to frequently by the band, this is one of the ones I come back to the most. I think this song is dishearteningly relevant to the modern age, perhaps even more so now than when it first came out. That's saying something, because this album came out in a pretty dark and hopeless political era. "Nothing Is Sound" as a whole album would have honestly fit fine in 2018 and 2019 for multiple reasons. This track sees John calling out America for the hateful and hopeless place it can be in a darkly satirical way: "I pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians/Watching for my sky to get torn apart". He doesn't let anyone get by for their culpability in creating such a hopeless landscape, saying "We're the problem, we're the politicians/Watching for our sky to get torn apart/C'mon and break me". He even goes so far as to call himself out as a 'politician'. This song lets no one go unscathed, and for that reason it's entirely justified in its anger. This song is the type that we need more of. You can tell listening to this that it came out of a rare moment of pessimism and hopelessness from Foreman, two philosophies that are pretty much antithesis to who he and the band are. But sometimes, we need the hard, bitter pills to swallow in order to even have a chance for the opposite side of the coin to occur. What an incredible song.

4. "The Beautiful Letdown" (The Beautiful Letdown)

With how much I praised the previous song, you have to know that I significantly love these other four tracks above it. The title track from the band's most famous album is so loved by fans, and for legitimately good reason. This song does have a sense of dark honesty to it like "Politicians". But, instead of wading in the hopelessness, here Foreman chooses to see failures in his life as someone who just makes him human. We are all imperfect, and we have to accept ourselves as such. This song also seems like a deeply personal testimony for Jon about his relationship with God. Jon discusses how he wants to give his soul to God who sees him as beautiful even though he fails. I think the best thing about this song is its deceptive simplicity. For the most part, it is only a solid bass groove, some wavering electronics, and Jon's soothing vocal performance. The simplicity of the music does well to bring out the complexity in the lyrical content. I love pretty much everything about this song; it is an excellent listening experience.

3. "Where The Light Shines Through" (Where The Light Shines Through)

I put this as my favorite song of 2016, and I still stand by that decision. Looking back on it, 2016 seemed positively bright and happy compared to how 2017 and 2018 were as far as the emotions of America went. I didn't know just how much I would need this song in the coming years. The bright acoustic guitars help give this song the upbeat pop/rock feel it needs. This song gives the listeners a powerful message: "The wound is where the light shines through". I just can't help but love all the implications of this line. The band does acknowledge that our world does have collective brokenness; we have a wound. And yet, in that wound there can be a sense of redemption that can come out of it. Some people could see this as very dismissive of people's struggles, but I see it as the opposite. Just because there is redemption out of the wound doesn't mean that the wound is immediately healed. Instead, healing and reconciliation, for Switchfoot, is a long process that comes through addressing the possibilities of good in the wound rather than letting it fester. This is a beautiful message that I think almost anyone can get behind, as it brings across a unifying and compelling idea.

2. "Free" (Hello Hurricane)

I really wish that Switchfoot did more of a bluesy style of music more often (the only other track they have really done so is on the superb cut "The Blues"). This song is incredibly unique in the band's discography as a whole, and became a quick fan favorite on "Hello Hurricane". This was for very understandable reasons. For one, musically it sounds like the whole band is having fun. The guitar riffs are some of the most creative, the bass groove is sweet, the drumming perfectly accentuates the moods of the song, and the electronics add to the feel of the song in intriguing ways. I think this song more than many Switchfoot songs is a showcase for Foreman's vocals, though. You can tell he's having a fun time with this track, getting to sing in a way that he doesn't usually have the chance to attempt. There's a confident swagger to his voice, but he doesn't let the confidence come across as annoyingly egostistical. The song also interestingly combines blues with an almost gospel feel especially in the chorus. There is also a sense of desperation to this song, as Jon calls out to God to set him free from the mental prison he's in. From the mood of the song, you get the feeling that he does get set free, which makes this song an absolute victory cry.

1. "Stars" (Nothing Is Sound) 

I really don't care if this is a cliched pick for a number one spot or not. From the first time I heard this track, not only did I know it would always and forever be my favorite Switchfoot song, but it would also be one of my favorite songs of all time. The raucous guitar riff and drum work shows the band paying clear tribute to classic rock. This song feels timeless for that reason, like I could return to it twenty years from now and it would still feel fresh. This song is also one of the band's most deeply philosophical, as Jon questions whether his existence as a person only matters to him or matters in the grand scheme of things at all: "Maybe I've been the problem/Maybe I'm the one to blame/But even when I turn it off and blame myself/The outcome feels the same". And yet, for all the complex questions Jon asks himself, when he looks at the cosmic vastness of the stars he sees "someone else". The 'someone' he's talking about here is clearly God, which makes him realize that maybe his problems aren't significant in the vast majority of the universe, and maybe that's okay. That doesn't mean his problems aren't relevant, nor that people's problems as a collective don't matter. I think what the band is trying to say here is that God does care about what we're going through, but the mistakes we make don't put us past forgiveness or his love. We are significant. The sins and issues we go through will pale in comparison when we pursue an infinite and holistic relationships with God and one another. This is such a heartwarming message, presented through an epic chorus that is endlessly fun to scream along to in a live setting. When I look to the stars, I hope I can see someone else, too.

There you have it- my top 10 Switchfoot songs. What does your list look like? I encourage you to listen to all of my list, and then if you haven't heard any of the band's music, listen to even more if you like what you hear!