Switchfoot's Foreman

When I was about 14 years old, I got duped into a Christian music club called "Sound and Spirit" that advertised in every Christian publication. Their advertisements were always colorful and vibrant, bearing large pictures of Steven Curtis Chapman and "CeCe Winans", and saying things like "10 cds for $9.99!!!" It sounded too good to be true! I didn't really have much music of my own, and I liked the idea of paying a dollar for a CD.

I soon came to call it: "Steal your Soul and Spirit".

Of course, it was a scam that started sending you music you didn't want, and billing you every month. (You would have thought I had learned my lesson from my run-in with the "Mystic Stamp Company" when I was 9...) The CD's were still sold at a good price, but my main problem was that I was not very familiar with the artists. Once I got outside of Michael W. Smith and "Carmen", I was pretty elementary in my CCM knowledge.

And so, as I scanned the catalogue for CD's I might like, there was one cover that caught my eye. I had never heard of the band...but I thought it sounded SO weird, that I just HAD to get it. "SWITCHFOOT: New Way To Be Human". The black and red thumbprint on the cover was beckoning me...so I bought it. Of course, the music turned out to not be my style, so I quickly traded it off to a friend. And because I never really heard anyone talk about "Switchfoot" again, I just assumed they were another flash-in-the-pan CCM disaster. Y'know like V*Enna. (Don't click on that link)

But in 2003, when I was 17 years old, Switchfoot came out with a new album: "The Beautiful Letdown". My friend Steve loaned it to me...and I've never given it back. The first two tracks were amazing. (Meant To Live and This is Your Life) With this album, Switchfoot crossed over from strictly christian circles and into secular ones. Pretty soon you could hear Switchfoot's distinct sound as you used the restroom at Wal*Mart. It was amazing.

But I'm not here to tell you about Switchfoot.

Last Fall I had my good musical buddy Danny Sabra over to my little house...and, of course, he had to bring his iPod. Now, it's important to note that Danny's iPod happens to magically contain every track of music in the world...which I doubt he purchased legally on iTunes. (Although wouldn't that be cool if there was an album on iTunes that contained every track of music in the world? Especially if it only cost $9.99...) Well, Danny showed me a lot of new music that night, but one that stood out was a few tracks from a musician named Jon Foreman.

"Wow, that's good!" I said. "Where have I heard that voice before?"

"Dude, he's the lead singer of Switchfoot!"

"No way! Really?"

"Yeah, man."

Switchfoot's lead vocalist had just come out with four EP samplers...each representing a different Season of the year. Danny played a few tracks, and then I promised Danny that I would look Mr. Foreman up and get his stuff.

But I forgot.

Fast forward a couple months to January of this year, where I'm talking to a beautiful young lady named Megan that I'm really starting to think I should probably marry someday. We're talking about music, and she drops Jon Foreman's name. Apparently, some of his "Season" songs had been compiled into an album entitled: "Limbs and Branches". She said she really loved it...which means I really needed to hear it.

I downloaded the album the next day, and was simply blown away. The beautiful, acoustic musicality, the powerfully, convicting lyrics, the original feel and mixing...I was falling in love with Jon Foreman. (Actually I was falling in love with Megan, but...)

The album starts with the powerful anthem "Your Love is Strong". This song is simply chock-full of biblical imagery and quotations emphasizing God's strength, our weakness and our need to not worry in light of those two truths. The song ends with a powerful recounting of the Lord's prayer that gives me chicken-skin every time I hear it.

One of the cool things about the album...is it's variety. In songs like "Southbound train" you get a (sometimes sensual) love song, put to a old-time country feel:

Oh, and the wind starts to look like her hair And the clouds in her bright blue eyes As the sea and the shore fall and rise Like her breast as she breathes by my side And the moon is her lips as the sun is headed on down to sea Like her head as she lays down on me Until we reach ocean side

...and in songs like "Instead of a show" you get God's rebuke of his people's shallow worship from the book of Isaiah:

I hate all your show and pretense the hypocrisy of your praise the hypocrisy of your festivals I hate all your show Away with your noisy worship Away with your noisy hymns I stop up my ears when your singing 'em I hate all your show

Throughout the whole album, however, you can feel the artist yearning for something higher. There seems to be a real, deep awareness of eternity and a closeness to his maker and final destiny. This awareness is probably shown clearest in the song "Learning how to die":

And I said, "Please, Don't talk about the end, Don't talk about how every living thing Goes away..." She said, "Friend, all along Thought I was learning how to take How to bend not how to break How to live not how to cry but really I've been learning how to die I've been learning how to die"

Jon's closeness to God, and love for the scriptures shines very clearly in the song "House of God, Forever" which is almost a word-for-word quotation of Psalm 23. The mellow, easy flow of this song really gives the impression that Jon is used to being led, like a sheep, to green grass and streams of water by his shepherd Savior. I came away from the song feeling refreshed and worshipful. (The song also features Jon Foreman's sister-in-law Sarah Masen.)

So...please check out the album. It's even better than Danny, Megan, or I can tell you...

...and you don't even have to sell your soul and spirit to get it.