Switchfoot?

[AEON]

Is anyone into this band? They seem to be following a similar career path to U2 and I really like their latest album. Their videos suck...but so do U2 videos. But songs like "Stars" and "We are One Tonight" are perfect pop-rock songs. Their lyrics are soulful and "world changing" - I like that.

 

[doubleU]

Except they don't really have much of their own sound.

 

[Canadiens1131]

Well I like that one song 'We were meant to live for so much more [sic]" or something like that.
It's not due to the vocals, lyrics, melody, or musical ability, however, after that line the guitar rhythm comes up with a harmonic or something and it's slightly interesting.

 

[nminor]

Jon Foreman is the most gifted lyricist since bono! not to mention that he write the best chorous' that i've heard in a while. pretty much the 'anti-coldplay' check out these lyrics from '24': (not the tv show)

I want to see miracles, see the world change/
Wrestled the angel, for more than a name/
For more than a feeling/
For more than a cause/
I’m singing Spirit take me up in arms with You/
And You’re raising the dead in me

its true that a lot of their songs sound alike, 'specially on the old albums, but they seem to be progessing musically. that riff in 'stars'? are you kidding me? thats quality. definitely underrated. they are not just top 40 pop/rock.

 

[lmjhitman]

Jon Foreman is the most gifted lyricist since bono!

i don't even know where to begin with that one.

and minus the previous post, i'm really enjoying the general ambivalence this thread has generated.

 

[nminor]

go ahead- start! i'm interested to see whom you have in mind. name someone in the past 10-15 years who writes such thoughtful, inspiring, and beuatiful lyrics. do we need another oasis or clash right now? (i love 'em both, so don't think i'm a hater.) i think we don't, but some more bands in the vein of u2 might do the world some good.

Switchfoot=

 

[MsGiggles]

I really like Switchfoot - I have the Beautiful Letdown CD which is

 

[Bono's shades]

Please, someone tell me this thread is a joke.

Those lyrics posted earlier make Bono's worst lines sound brilliant by comparison.

 

[nminor]

i'm sure this isn't news to everyone, but there are other quality bands besides u2. don't get me wrong, i love u2; they are my favorite band of all time, but you can't be serious!

Please, someone tell me this thread is a joke.

Those lyrics posted earlier make Bono's worst lines sound brilliant by comparison.

come on! compare the lyrics from 'desire' or 'vertigo' or 'sweetest thing' to '24' or 'learning to breathe'. not to say that they don't write little dittys like 'vertigo' but have you even heard anything by switchfoot besides meant to live/ dare you to move/ stars? i'm not saying they are better than u2, they are cut from the same cloth though. believe it or not, there may be, sometime in the future, a band that could be (gasp) better than u2! not saying it's switchfoot, but i prefer to keep an open mind about these kind of things. k?

 

[AEON]

Actually, the few lines I caught from Switchfoot I've liked. I bought a handful of their songs from iTunes last week, and I've been pleasantly suprised.

I definitely don't think they are the "next u2" - but their music seems much more meaningful than anything bands like Coldplay are putting out.

 

[lmjhitman]

name someone in the past 10-15 years who writes such thoughtful, inspiring, and beuatiful lyrics.

in the past 10 - 15 YEARS???!

wow. you're not even giving yourself a fighting chance are you?

let's see... just off the top of my head:

jeff tweedy
thom yorke
kevin drew
win butler
tori amos
chan marshall
fiona apple
paul banks
ben gibbard
torquil campbell
sam beam
sufjan stevens
damon albarn
ted leo
isaac brock
conor oberst

and i haven't even looked in my itunes yet.

some more bands in the vein of u2 might do the world some good.

ummm no.

 

[doubleU]

come on! compare the lyrics from 'desire' or 'vertigo' or 'sweetest thing' to '24' or 'learning to breathe'.

I'll give you SW, I'll even give you half of Vertigo, but Desire?

Now I know you're on something.

I want to see miracles, see the world change/
Wrestled the angel, for more than a name/
For more than a feeling/
For more than a cause/
I’m singing Spirit take me up in arms with You/
And You’re raising the dead in me/

The problem with these lyrics, besides sounding borderline Creed, is that first of all they've been done before, secondly they've got the biblical references, they have the optimism but they just lack the true darkness of someone that would feel this way.

Don't get me wrong they are good, just not worthy to be hailed in such a way.

 

[Zoomerang96]

worst thread ever.

switchfoot is by no means as bad as creed, but they're not much better either.

early reports indicate no less than 20 million bands are currently better than switchfoot.

and their lyrics are weak.

what an awful, awful 7oke this thread is.

 

[Zoomerang96]

hitman made you look very small, nminor. you opened yourself up like a gaping five-hole.

not even bob essensa'd be able to close the barn doors in time.

 

[lmjhitman]

not that i have a lecavalier attitude about it,

but it really was effortless.

 

[the rockin edge]

most of the songs sound the same

the lyrics are distinctly average

They seem to be following a similar career path to U2

Jon Foreman is the most gifted lyricist since bono!

no he's not

what an awful, awful 7oke this thread is.

 

[nminor]

you mean this isn't a switchfoot fan forum? ohhhh, everything is starting to make sense now. seriously, points well taken, but that bit about references to the bible being a problem kinda has me confused. (cough)'40' (cough) (cough) whole october album (cough) i didn't realize optimism was looked down upon. my bad.

at the risk of being flamed look at this:

i'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that you and you alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

i think those lyrics would fit in well with the october album.

 

[doubleU]

but that bit about references to the bible being a problem kinda has me confused. (cough)'40' (cough) (cough) whole october album (cough) i didn't realize optimism was looked down upon. my bad.

You may want to re-read my post because you missed my point.

I was saying yes, they have the elements of all the writers before them that have written about change with biblical reference, but they lack reality. In order to truly want change it comes from a recognizing what needs to be changed. Blind optimism comes off as saccharin.

 

[Bono's shades]

i'm sure this isn't news to everyone, but there are other quality bands besides u2. don't get me wrong, i love u2; they are my favorite band of all time, but you can't be serious!

I love many, many bands and artists besides U2. And yes, I'm very serious. Switchfoot aren't all that.

Just because someone expresses spirituality in their lyrics doesn't mean they are good lyrics, artistically speaking. The guys in Switchfoot may be very sincere in their Christian beliefs, and if so good for them. That doesn't make their lyrics any less trite.

 

[Zoomerang96]

at the risk of being flamed look at this:

i'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that you and you alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

i think those lyrics would fit in well with the october album.

i don't get how posting lyrics penned by scott stapp has anything to do with this thread.

i have nothing against positive lyrics. but october is a garbage album, and to compare anything to it really doesn't help you proove anything other than the lyrics you posted are REALLY sub-standard.

 

[GibsonGirl]

I've seen piles of vomit that are better than this thread. Switchfoot? Switchfoot?!

B&C really sucks these days.

 

[Zoomerang96]

at least there's 10,000 coldplay threads, gibson girl.

we'll always have those

 

[lmjhitman]

i think i had the best non-cujo pun in this thread, thank you very much.

 

[GibsonGirl]

at least there's 10,000 coldplay threads, gibson girl.

we'll always have those

Yeah. And if you count the threads that inadvertently make reference to Coldplay and/or the need for even more derivative bands just like them, it's more like a million. It's just awesome! AWEsome.

 

[Zoomerang96]

i think i had the best non-cujo pun in this thread, thank you very much.

for richards or poorer, your punnery has everyone screaming.

 

[lmjhitman]

quit jokkinen around, bear.

i'm totally serious.

 

[nminor]

i think that most of you are looking at this the wrong way. u2 and switchfoot don't really appeal to the same market. like it or not, there aren't many teenagers getting into u2 at this point in their career. (there are exceptions of course, me being one of them) but if some kid turns on the radio and hears 'dare you to move' or 'we are one tonight' and decides that life is still worth living, or it helps them get through at tough time in their life, it that such a bad thing? (if you think i'm joking, i'm not, i've seen and heard of things life this happening) it could be why i like them so much, a lot of the lyrics appeal to me on a personal level. 'bands' like black eyed peas, gorrilaz, etc., even if they are 'groundbreaking', so what? maybe i haven't accepted the fact that music can't change the world. do i have to?


and there's always the cool story of when jon foreman met bono: he tried giving him $40 for a u2 concert that he snuck into back in the day, and bono gave it right to him! good thing too, it was his last $40. he does mention bono in a song also, 'gone'. there are good lines in that one too, about 'do we know what life is, outside of out convienent lexus cages...'

but i won't get into that

 

[nminor]

You may want to re-read my post because you missed my point.

I was saying yes, they have the elements of all the writers before them that have written about change with biblical reference, but they lack reality. In order to truly want change it comes from a recognizing what needs to be changed. Blind optimism comes off as saccharin.

i get what your saying, but thank you for clarifying. i don't think that they are just statemnets of blind optimism though. a lot of songs are filled with doubt, or 'how can we make it better' kind of thing.

 

[Canadiens1131]

This thread is an intraweb trainwreck.

 

[lmjhitman]

i think that most of you are looking at this the wrong way. u2 and switchfoot don't really appeal to the same market.

umm, you might be looking at this the wrong way, nminor.

we're not all drooling, uber-U2 fans ready to slam every other band that gets compared to them.

in fact, some of us think that the current incarnation of U2 is shit, and even compared to THAT, switchfoot are still somehow shittier.

so yeah, that would make switchfoot like, really, REALLY BAD.