| Saturday, December 9, 2006 |
| The "Oh! Gravity." concept |
I haven't offered up anything on here for a few days now, because my finals are keeping me busy. But yesterday, someone on the SF boards said that "Oh! Gravity." is Switchfoot's most "secular" album, or their most spiritually neutral album. I can see why someone would think that, but that prompted an (inspired?) response from me:
I actually disagree in a way. Yes, its got much lesser Christian trigger-words, but its got Jon's most spiritually straightforward lyrics yet. "American Dream" is pretty in-your-face. 4:12, "...begin to believe that all we are is material. Its nonsensical. Yes it is." and then "souls aren't made of stones, sticks and bones" repeated 8x. And his blunt jab at postmodernism in "Circles", the boldness of which actually took me by surprise, and its sung in the most noticeable way, during the bridge of the song, right when you're really gripped: "Don't believe that nothing is true. Don't believe in this modern machine, modern machine!"
Anyway, here's what I think is the album's loose concept, or theme: Materialism doesn't fulfill ("American Dream", "Faust", "4:12"), because your heart's not made of gold ("Faust"), stones, sticks or bones but the human soul is something of more lasting and deeper value than that ("4:12"), yet life is short ("Yesterdays"), so its worth must be lived out fully ("Burn Out Bright", "Awakening"), mainly through love, whether it be love in human relationships ("Amateur Lovers", "Head Over Heels", "Let Your Love"), or in your relationship with a Higher Power ("Let Your Love"), which is what the human soul needs for fulfillment, not things money can buy. This message is rounded out by "Oh! Gravity." which introduces you to the album's ideas by probing for a diagnosis before the treatment, with the question "why can't seem to keep it together?", while "Dirty Second Hands" takes a crack at pride which is the most common roadblock for spiritual messages to get through, and "Circles" basically outlines the kind of life you live if you don't pick this right "direction". Life begins at the intersection.
Well, I hope that gives you something to feed off of during your torturous wait for December 26th :D You'll see more of me once I'm through with my finals. But then again, I'll be gone to India for a month (Dec 15 - Jan 16) so hopefully I don't get so caught up in the fun there that I don't post here. Thanks for all your support, running this blog has been more fun than I thought it'd be, thanks to the great response from you guys. Take care ya'll, and HAPPY HOLIDAYS :) Much love and Switchfoot,
phil
[EDIT: And I'd like to thank the most talented Cassie once again for the work she's put into the layout and graphics. As soon as I find time, I'm gonna add more pages on here, and one of them will be for credits and bios, so you have a better idea about the people behind the scenes. And my official "Oh! Gravity." review, some commentary on the brilliant recent interview Jon did with ChristianityToday magazine, AND my take on what "Dirty Second Hands" means (by request from Gellie and WeAreMadeOfLove), are all coming soon.]Labels: excess opinion_analysis. |
posted by phil @ 5:59 PM  
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| 5 Comments: |
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Ok yeah, I was the one who said that. And I see what your saying, and I get your points, but I still think it's the most secular album yet. (That's disagreement #2 for us. Tut tut)
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Disagreement Shmisagreement. It can't stop your love. :o)
You know, I've been thinking about this. I know what you're saying, Vicky, about it being more secular, in comparison, and as far as "churchy" people buying the record, you're probably right. However, what is on the inside is what comes out, and I think as far as that goes, I've been really impressed with the depth of spirituality I hear more and more from the guys. They're not just becoming more mature, but more mature in their faith and the way they express it and live it. Maybe for that reason, the spirituality of the messages in the songs is deeper and less blatant. Not that that means it's hiding. It's just something listeners can hear and feel with their hearts (cheesy as that sounds), and not be hit over the head with.
I'm not disagreeing with you. In my mind I'm just morphing the issue. I hope it didn't come across wrong...
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Yeah, exactly. I think its interesting to note here what the Amazon.com secular reviewer had to say: that this album "fully reconciles their (Christian) faith with their (considerable) talent."
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This is the record to break that christian labeling thing.
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Yeah, I get what everyone is saying...but I still don't think that just becuase they don't use the word God, that is has to be secular.
Phil has a point!
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Ok yeah, I was the one who said that. And I see what your saying, and I get your points, but I still think it's the most secular album yet. (That's disagreement #2 for us. Tut tut)