This is a great, vibey (is that the right word?) music video of "Happy Is A Yuppie Word" that leaked a long long time ago, but is now featured on Switchfootage 2 so I thought I'd share it (put up on YouTube by mpac1801). If my sources are right, they initially planned to release this as the lead single and shot the video for it, but the record company decided the song wouldn't sell, so they released "Stars" instead and used the same video concept for it. Sad. I like this one better than the "Stars" video, no doubt.
Enough with the rumours, it's official: "Awakening" is the next single and will be released in March, the early part of March I presume. I'm excited to see how well it does on radio - I personally believe it's as good for radio as "Meant to Live" or "Dare You To Move", if not better.
I hope it awakens the airwaves.
(Source: Footsoldiers HQ.)
In other news, podcast 19 is out, and it's funnier than ever. But why nothin' about Vancouver, "daawg"?
Listen to "C'mon C'mon [acoustic]" - the Circuit City exclusive
I believe the loyal fams deserve a chance to hear those 8 bonus tracks without having to purchase 8 CDs. So here's the newest addition to our bonus-track listening party, on our MySpace page (add us if you haven't yet!)
I just wanna remind people that the "MP3 of the week" feature is done by Arpit Mehta of AM Music Blog - because a couple of the commenters on the last MOTW seemed to think that I did the post. I love what Arpit put up this week, the song by "This Beautiful Mess" - I'm definitely gonna grab that CD now. Check it out, and leave him some love.
Luke (some of you on the official boards know him) is officially switchFeed's resident photographer. He is an amazing talent, I am proud to have him on board, and to be able to announce that switchFeed will now also feed you exclusive, original, professional Switchfoot pictures. Stay tuned, my friends, and you will be amazed...
A new poll is up, finally. This one's more of a survey type thing. Update: I'm sorry I forgot to put an option for those who don't think it's pointless yet don't wanna join. I can't edit the poll, I'd have to put up a new one to insert that option. There's 20 votes already so I don't feel like taking it down right now - but this one's going down soon anyway, since it's mostly for my benefit, and we'll have a more fun poll up in a few days. :)
Switchfoot News:
Here's the news you're actually looking for... *video* Fans on the message boards reported that Switchfoot's "C'mon C'mon" played on a Dove commercial during the Oscars. Jeanna at LOBH found us their site where you can watch the ad. I'm glad a Switchfoot song is on a commercial for the company behind this campaign. Quite a Switchfooty campaign, in my opinion.
*videos* Raph17 from the message boards uploaded the entire Vancouver concert on YouTube, and boy, does he have a good camera. He also uploaded MP3s of the songs (except the first 6, which were on the official bootlegs), here. We really appreciate it, Raph - it's good to have the whole concert I went to on my iPod - didn't think that was gonna happen.
*video* My buddy Mike took a video of "Shadow Proves the Sunshine" at the Seattle show, and superimposed the bootleg audio on it, to come up with this pretty sweet clip.
*video* One of our readers, Dominic ('lcp' on the boards) sent me an email about this acoustic performance of "Oh! Gravity." that Jon did for TagWorld. Thanks Dom.
During their Europe tour, the guys did a concert in association with an organization called "Christian Surfers UK" - the site has a report and pictures up (I've posted one below). One of the pictures on the site is a nice close-up of Jon's famed artwork guitar. (Thanks again, LOBH.)
Jon and Tim give a bit of an introduction, before Switchfoot's well-known cover of "God Only Knows" gets played, in this podcast. Here's a transcript of the whole thing for the lazy folks:
Jon: Switchfoot originated, um, we still live in San Diego, that's kinda where we all grew up, um, surfin' around San Diego, "Switchfoot" is a surfing term, that's kind of, I dunno, that's kinda the genesis of everything for us, surfin' and goin to shows, just a very great mellow environment, a lot of incredible people that helped us out along back home in San Diego.
Tim: We covered a song by Beach Boys, by Brian Wilson, "God Only Knows" and, uh, we figured if it's Paul McCartney's favourite song then it's a pretty good tune.
Jon: He's a bass player though, so thats where that's comin' from. And for me that song is like, y'know, one of the most beautiful songs, it's really hard to write an honest love song and that one is brutally honest, to have lines like "I may not always love you" or "if you should ever leave me" - those are your opening lines for both your verses and I think that's just an incredible way to be honest in a love song.
I don't know if I mentioned this here yet, but Tim made a legendary post on the official boards a week or so ago, which is what spawned Michael Stecker'sswitchfootbootlegs.com, a partner site of ours. Here's the post, for those who aren't boardies:
Hey friends, as many of you already know, we've been selling live bootlegs on this tour at the end of each night. The bootlegs are raw, energetic, and unpredictable... capturing whatever madness may occur during the first half of the show (the first 6 songs or so). The CD's are then duplicated and ready to go home with you at the end of the evening. This has been one of the most exciting new things we've been able to try as of late, and it's been really enjoyable for us. At the end of this tour, we'll have 39 completely different live recordings, all with your beautiful voices singing along. We only print around 100 or so, and they always sell out by the end of the night. Once they're gone, they're gone, and we do it all over again the next night. However, as great as this has been, we've been thinking of ways to make it even more of a community event. What if there was a way to share these bootlegs with our friends from all around the world? Ha, that would be amazing, right? Well, as we all know, the internet makes this a very doable thing, and I would just like to go on record as saying that you have our blessing to pass these babies around -- share 'em, trade 'em, just don't sell 'em. In fact, not only do you have our blessing, but we would be absolutely honored if this sort of sharing became commonplace. I know many of you are pretty tech savvy. We could always set something up on switchfoot.com, but in the spirit of community, I'd rather this be something that you all worked together to set up. Maybe those of you who are more tech-inclined (you know who you are), can start a dialogue on this thread and figure out the best way to do this (bit torrent community, or maybe something else). I can't wait to see where this dream ends up! Run... run like a young boy in a field! love to all, -tim
Luke, our newly-appointed resident photographer, reports a blog entry from Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek, that puts in more than a word about The Real SeanJon. Check out the update, if, like me, you just can't wait for this project.
Switchfoot comes in second on JfH's Readers Choice "Artist of the Year" category.
I'm not really an American Idol fan, but Chris Sligh is a Switchfoot fan. Jon Foreman is his hero, and he also performed Mute Math's "Typical" on the show the other day. So if you're into the show and all, you should probably vote for him.
Disclaimer: (in response to a comment below) This post is written with tongue firmly in cheek.
What justifies the statement "I love (insert band name)"? Is it how many concerts you go to? How many "rare" songs you have stashed on your iTunes playlist? Maybe how many albums or merch you own? Maybe it's not a possession, but a story. A story of survival, renewed hope or inspiration - maybe that cuts it? Devotion, loyalty, dedication.. fandom? obsession? infatuation? Nah.. close, but not quite. You don't really really love a band until you take them with you to the grave. Sorry to break this to you but it seems like you have fallen short, my dear friend. Only a select few of us have that honor. Too bad Phil, you don't fall in that category either. ;) So here you have pictures of what our families may call insanity, but we call the epitome of radness:
MOTW #5: This Beautiful Mess - 'Up The Barricades'
I'm always impressed by an artist when they put together a song or an album that has such an impact on its audience as to capture them instantly. That is what I love about This Beautiful Mess who bring us this week's mp3 of the week all the way from the Netherlands. Yeah, they're internationals.
The music that these guys (and gal) produce finds their roots in rock, but doesn't stay there. Weaving through pop melodies with often tense vocals, they remind me of a mix between Radiohead and Tremolo actually. Weird, huh? Oh, and these guys have some awesome album names. The one this song is off of is called "Temper The Wind To The Shorn Lamb". How rad is that? Anyways, what makes this song worthy enough to post? Well, for one, it's one of the first songs of their I heard that just got stuck in my head. Plus, the chorus has often been the cry of my heart:
I'll be up the barricades, My life is at stake here, I'd rather burn down than fade away, fade away...
That, plus the bridge is pretty awesome too. But I'll wait for you guys to give it a listen. If you like it, you can check out another song of theirs that I put up on my blog a few days ago. Looking forward to hearing back from you guys. Oh, I forgot the obligatory apologies for not posting the past couple weeks: I was sick. Yeah, that's all you get :)
Give me the urgency to be Right here and right now Taking full responsibility Put me in my place Show me my mistakes For the sake of grace Give me relevancy Let me feed the hungry I want to be necessary Say it to my face Crush my wayside shrines Light my way today I'll be up the barricades My life is at stake here I would rather burn down than fade away Give me your ideals and truth over theory I need a conviction Give it to me straight Throw me to my face Let me pray your ears off Put me in the line of fire I don't want to waste my time I want to make my life worthwhile All you see is all you get There's nothing more There's nothing less Everything that meets the eye Is everything there is to life
These two videos were the only ones released since our inaugural issue of "YouTube scoop" that were rad enough to make this second installment.
The coolest birthday cake?
A nicely done (well, compared to the usual lameness of fan music-videos), slightly amusing video for "4:12". The end of the song is edited out and instead the "oh-oh-ooh's" are looped till they fade out. Interesting.
--
Also, Switchfoot scored a cover story and interview on the "Christian Music Planet" magazine. Sarah (dramaqueen!*) from the official boards got us scans of all of it. Thanks Sarah! To open these in a new window, hold down the "shift" key when you click (or the Apple key if you're on a Mac):
Watch VIDEOS + Download MP3s: Rest of the songs from the 02/19 acoustic set in Vancouver
Here's a laugh-a-minute rendition of "Revenge", recorded by Hailey. It contains a somewhat embarassing moment for me (only redeemed by the fact that Jon himself forgot the lyrics! :P I'm sorry Jon if you didn't want me to post this. ;))
Much thanks to Cookie, "Only Hope" from the same acoustic session has also been caught on tape. I remember really getting into this one as I sang with Jon, so thanks Cookie for capturing that memory on film.
So there you have it, we've managed to get you 5 of the 6 songs Jon played (click here for "Lord, Save Me From Myself"). Too bad we couldn't get "Chem 6a", which was great - especially when he perfectly pulled off the guitar part at the end, given it was an acoustic. I have a newfound appreciation for his guitar skills after this experience.
PS: The Vancouver Daily Foot is up! The only brown arm you see right up front, is mine. I think you can see a bit of my wide open mouth too, if you look closely. :D So much for a Daily Foot appearance.
In response to some bad netiquette that has been slightly bothering Hailey, myself, and others here at switchFeed, I just wanna make a couple things clear on our behalf: (a) If you wish to make the MP3 available to your fansite readers, do not re-upload it when we've already made it downloadable on our official eSnips page. Stealing traffic is not nice. You can use the link we have provided. (b) MP3 rips from our exclusively-released (and often painstakingly-acquired) #videopimp videos have been distributed, with absolutely no credit given. Not cool. Videos have also been re-uploaded on YouTube without credit. Not cool either. If this keeps happening, I might have to consider uploading videos on YouTube without putting out the MPG file for download. If you don't like crediting, you can get an account at videopimp.org, donate, read all the how-to's, request the recording you want before the show, wait for them to release the video, figure out how to work the non-userfriendly mIRC, and endure the overnight wait in a queue of 20 people each waiting for their download, until you have your video (often after a few failed attempts because the server went offline or you got booted out so you have to get in the queue again the next day) - after all that you can do whatever you want with the video without crediting anyone. (c) If you post the lyrics on your fansite, please credit us for the hour we spent trying to decipher the lyrics (yes, in spite of making this clear in the last post, it wasn't honoured). We do not make any money doing this site (in fact I spend on it from my own pocket when I don't know if I can afford my next semester in college), but we're more than happy to do it as a free service for you fans (fams, rather) and for the love of the band, so the least we ask for in return is credit where it's due - and it's disappointing when that code of honour is broken. I'm sorry if I come off as rude, I don't mean to - this has been happening repeatedly, and personal messages to webmasters don't seem to be working, which is why I decided to rant about this here. We've always been about sharing everything with everyone in the spirit of community (which is why I do this site), but, please, let's do it respectfully. If I have failed anyone at crediting, I apologize, feel free to point out any such error on my part so I can remedy it.
The more I've blogged, the more I've been learning the importance of this: Your site doesn't look any cooler by having others' efforts posted as if it were yours (even if your readers don't realize this), rather a site that credits well and does linkbacks generously gets far more respect.
Anyway, this is the last you'll hear from me about this. If it persists, life will still go on. Forgive me if you had nothing to do with any of this and I just wasted 5 minutes of your life.
Jon played this piercing, previously-unheard song at an acoustic sit-down I requested after their Vancouver show on Feb 19th '07, and my famous friend Hailey Gillen saved the day by taping it, and now sharing it with all of us. So you might wanna leave a thank-you comment.
Lyrics:
Lord, save me from myself My mind's seen the glory Of this hollow modern shell Sex is a grand production But I'm bored with that as well
Aah-aah-aah Aah-aah-aah Lord, save me from myself
Electric sun keeps shining Wrapping daughters in chrome This world is where I breathe But let it never be called home Vultures make money It's where my body fell
Aah-aah-aah Aah-aah-aah Lord, save me from myself
[guitar interlude]
Vultures make money I'm bored with that as well
Aah-aah-aah Aah-aah-aah Aah-aah-aah Lord, save me from myself
(Lyrics cracked by Hailey and myself - if you republish the video or lyrics, we'd appreciate a linkback. Or credit to switchFeed, whichever.)
(Update @ 22nd Feb '07:)Click here to download an MP3 of this song.
I can't get over how good this song is, how amazing Jon's guitarwork is, and the fact that I was there to witness this gem. I was there. Thank you Jon.
Download MP3: 'Life and Love and Why' (live in Vancouver 19th Feb '07)
Mike has put up "Life and Love and Why" from last night's show (download by right-clicking here and selecting "save target as...") - and the rest of the bootlegged tracks, including "4:12" - on switchfootbootlegs.com, so check that out too.
Switchfoot Bootlegs Podcast! Get the latest bootleg tracks when they become available automatically! The Switchfoot Bootlegs Podcast is now available for FREE subscription on iTunes.
Click here to jump to the podcast page and click the "Subscribe" button to subscribe.
me: this is going on... jon: *looks at me and smiles* me: ...youtube! jon: *laughs* ...hello youtube.
[The dork in me had to surface, damnit.]
(Thanks for the vid & pic, Hailey! You're rad, it was great to get to meet you.)
PS: I hope--no, I know--putting my picture on a site with 1000 hits a day should be okay - I mean I'm sure no one here is really into superimposing a youngster's face on a naked man's body or something like that. (a concerned friend wondered about that, hence the clarification.)
Download VIDEO: 'Happy Is A Yuppie Word' (Daily Download) + brief recap of tonight's show
Click here for an mpg download of the "Happy Is A Yuppie Word" performance video from FUSE's Daily Download that I put up on YouTube a few days ago.
I just got back from the show, and I put up a brief recap of it on a thread that Vicky started on the official boards. Here's what I said:
oh maaaann, that was the most amazing night ever.
unbelievable - if i give every detail of what happened, you guys are gonna hate me, so i'll put up a bit more of an "official"-ish concert review on switchfeed tomorrow or something (really tired right now).
we've got a recording of a song no one's ever heard before - i got jon to sit down with about 10 of us for an acoustic set after the show - that's where he played it (i tried the manager at a nearby pub but she didn't like the idea, but oh well, it worked out even better at the end than it would've been at a pub). it's called "Lord, Save Me From Myself" and it's great. he also played revenge (yes, REVENGE!), betrayal, only hope, chem6a and war in my blood. and you guys will be happy to know 4:12 and Life&Love&Why (which i got 4 or 5 video recordings of, including one instrumental rendition, at soundcheck) made it on the bootleg cd too! =]
oh, and, jon's gonna be guest-writing for switchfeed. yes. it's in the works - he sounded really excited about the idea ("lets do it, phil!") and told me to email him the details... and the guys were all raving about the site, especially romey. (how kind.) too bad i forgot to thank tim for the plug on their myspace blog, but i had a great little chat with him that hopefully made up for it.
it was a dream come true to be softly singing along to "revenge" with jon playing it sitting down on the floor right next to me, though the song turned funny when jon forgot the lyrics halfway through hahah (he also quipped: "it's hard to sing a song about murder with a smile on your face".) i couldn't have asked for a better concert experience. i'm so honoured and blessed to be able to consider myself a friend of these guys (who in turn consider themselves our "shoe shiners" - more on that later.)
PS- thanks again for the ride home, Cookie!
The only picture from the show my camera could manage that I actually liked:
Here's one from Hailey's camera (she's gonna be posting some more good ones here, soon):
(Update @ 2:30pm:) Some points I made in ensuing posts on the thread:
I don't want anyone to get the idea that I'm gonna have complete control over this - I did the part of starting it up and installing it - but I want the rest to be a team effort - it belongs to the community that will be using it. Mods will be impartially appointed along the way.
Depending on the interest this experiment generates, I'll buy a domain for it soon. I plan to take a vote from the forum users regarding what domain name to pick, if switchfams.com isn't everyone's favourite idea for a name.
And, did I mention, we can have a custom skin/theme on the boards for those who come there through your fansite!? A theme that matches your site's design/colours. I'll help you with this, after which you just have to add "?styleid=x" (where 'x' is the theme number) in front of the URL and you now have a custom link to the boards for your fansite! :)
--
So I haven't updated the poll section in a while, haven't done the MOTW for this weekend yet, a review slew is due, my "Revenge" post is still pending - am I slacking?
You decide. Amongst other things that have been keeping me busy, here's what I've been working on for many days, and finally, after running into many roadblocks, I've completed setting it up. *feels accomplished* Quoted below is a post I just made on the official boards, which details it.
If you don't like the "Oh! Gravity." skin/theme, you can change the skin to the default one (from the drop-down menu at the bottom). More skins coming soon.
This forum isn't for any one particular fansite, it's for everyone, even your friends who aren't into Switchfoot might be able to have a good time there, eventually. I find it disappointing to see the Switchfoot community all broken up - a lot of the old boardies don't come on here anymore because these boards' software sucks. Some fansites have tried other alternatives (which furthered the split-up of the community), but those free alternatives are usually not good enough either - the ads and limited customization aren't fun, and the software isn't great either. So I thought (as many have suggested before, but no one has set up) it was time for vBulletin, the best forum software that exists. It took me a while to come to a decision because I really didn't wanna do something redundant by making a forum for switchfeed.com - yet another forum by a fansite - a pointless idea, when I believe all of us fans should be in one place, as one big community. So I ensured the forums didn't follow the design theme of switchfeed.com or peddled any exclusiveness.
I'm not saying the forums I just created are the solution, but I hope they're one step closer to it, even if by just conveying a message to Sony or Switchfoot, whoever it may concern, that we deserve a better place to hang out. Either way, Switchfoot's contract will end in a couple albums (and these boards are Sony's webspace), but we're not going anywhere, are we? Maybe if enough of us get on there, it could move to its own domain and I could offer Switchfoot the ownership. For now, I'll just wait and see where it goes.
If any fansite managers wish to relocate their boardies/message-board section to those forums, I'll place a prominent link/button to your fansite on that page (or create a homepage of fansite links and move the forums to a sub-directory), as a token of my appreciation, and I'll make you an admin/mod - fair deal? I hope you understand, this is a sincere effort to bring us all (at least all fansite boardies - who don't hang out much at these boards anyway) to one place with a quality forum software. And I believe vBulletin is the answer. We could call ourselves the fansite coalition or something, haha.
(on the CDUSA interview:) Tim: ...a lot of the people that have been coming to our shows have been coming for as long as we’ve been a band. We just kind of felt a great connection with all of our longtime…we don’t really call them fans…at this point. It’s just kind of like a big family.
Jon: The long-time “fams.” (Laughs)
Tim: The fams! --
I hope to see you guys there! :)
PS: ...and those pending updates are just around the corner, I promise. ;)
Watch VIDEO: 'Happy Is A Yuppie Word' (live on Daily Download)
After showing SF play "Stars" on Daily Download, for some reason (if I remember right) they didn't show this performance of HIAYW - it was probably shown only to a pay-per-view audience. No one mentioned this song on the message board thread about this TV appearance back then - while everyone was talking about "Stars", with a boardie even uploading a recording of it. So correct me if I'm wrong but pretty much no one's seen this yet. Either way, this is the only professionally-recorded live performance of this song that exists as of now.. brought to the web for the first time ever, right here, right now:
Jon writes foreword to new book + great new interview!
I mentioned the book "Be The Change" a few entries ago, because Jon was mentioned on its back cover according to ysmarko, who've responded with:
btw, seeing visitors come to ysmarko from various switchfoot sites (due to my post the other day about zach’s book) reminds me that i failed to mention that switchfoot lead singer jon foreman (a fellow san diegan, and a really good guy) wrote the forward for the book.
The newest item on my wishlist... (click image to buy)
Clifton from the message boards posted mp3s of the Rhapsody-exclusive interview Switchfoot did recently. It's hilarious. Listen...
His posting was accompanied by this message:
btw don't freak out that it starts with track 5, 1-4 are completely unrelated to this, so don't worry about it, and track 8 should be TIM ON DREW, the file is TIM ON THE BAND so note that mistake
Download them to your computer from here. Thanks Clifton!
Lastly, Podcast 18 is out, and it's awesome. Andyspeak:
ok so i went crazy on this one. it's over 6 minutes long. crazy, i know, but we were in europe, and that doesnt happen very often. enjoy. download it on itunes and get all your friends to too! or watch it on youtube!
Random thoughts for Valentine's day, 2004: Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap.
That's an observation I've loved enough to quote it to friends a few times in the past, but I hope you feel better than that about today, even if you're single. If you don't, this picture of a poster available on the current tour (or my update on the previous post) should cheer you up... it made Gellie go "Jonyth Paltrow!" :D (pic courtesy: Brittany)
...while I'm responsible for this bit of Jon-defacing:
Ah, the powers of MS Paint. :D That Kermit picture was taken from this blog post about Switchfoot which made my day. Funny stuff.
An entry at MereOrthodoxy.com that writes about Sufjan Stevens (another favourite of mine) and Switchfoot as examples of artists weilding faith in a relevant way, to impact pop culture, while also somewhat touching on the irony that I brought up in my interview question 2.
Here's a detailed Switchfoot poll that you might wanna vote on and see the results.
Daniel Lim's small group decided to remake the "We Are One Tonight" video, which must've been a lot of fun to do. (watch here)
Mark Oestreicher writes about a book called "Be the Change", authored by a precocious 15-year-old, that deserves attention more than just because it has Jon Foreman mentioned on the back cover.
Listen to "C'mon C'mon [remix]", the other BestBuy-exclusive bonus track
By request from MySpacer Kyle, I've put it up on our profile page. ;) For evaluation purposes only - if you want to own it, please buy it from BestBuy.
On another note, I've made some significant updates to the site design.
Block quotes like this now look prettier, courtesy Annie's guide. The switchLabels widget looks neater. The whole layout is wider by 70 pixels, so it doesn't look so cramped for space.
But most importantly, thanks to Hackosphere, if you click on any of the labels (from the tabs at the very top or from the switchLabels widget), it will take you to a page showing ALL the post titles categorized by that label. You can click on the "+/-" button next to the post title to collapse or expand a post - so you can access them all from the same page! Try it. :) Thanks for all the feedback, the kind words - it's part of what motivates me to keep improving this baby.
I thought I'd share the questions I entered for the iloverock.ca contest where the winner gets to interview Switchfoot.
1. The intricate cover art has been termed "neo-psychedelic". Some reviews also throw in the "psychedelic" word to describe the music - where did that influence come from? Especially in "Dirty Second Hands" and "Circles" - was it a conscious thing on your part?
2. Maybe invited to do so by your pop sensibilities and the major-label contract, some critics have pointed out the irony of singing against the corporate machine even though that's the very thing you feed off of. Where do you find the balance between art, commerce and authenticity?
3. For how many more years do you look forward to making music? I guess you can't give a number, but I mean when you guys think of the future, what do you see? Any side projects, maybe?
4. As a band known to break down walls between you and fans, do you find that hard to do now that you're popular? When too many people want a piece of you, and some of them probably for the wrong reasons, how do you handle it? Has it forced any compromises?
5. Is the lyric "train the monkeys on my back to fight" a reference to something in particular or just an interesting metaphor?
So, what is the one question you'd ask Switchfoot if you had the opportunity to interview them? (okay, you're free to comment with more than one question.) Psst! You know, I might get a chance to interview Switchfoot (apart from the contest), so you guys' questions could come in handy.
What are the Top 10 lines from "Oh! Gravity." that, say, you'd like to have on t-shirts as captions? This means you can't merely consider what the line means to you, or what it means in the context of the song, but take it a step further and ask yourself: would non-fans who haven't heard the song think it's a great line and ask you where you got the shirt from or who said it? Here's my much-thought-out list, though you're more than welcome to come up with your own Top 10 (or just list the ones you think I should've included) in the comments section, to complete this "database" if you might, of quotables from the album.
1. We found out the hype won't get you through.
2. When success is equated with excess, the ambition for excess wrecks us, as the top of the mind becomes the bottomline when success is equated with excess.
3. Talk has always been the cheapest thing.
4. I wanna wake up kicking and screaming, I wanna live like I know what I'm leaving.
5. Don't believe that there's nothing that's true, don't believe in this modern machine.
6. What direction? Death or action! Life begins at the intersection.
7. In this life, you're the flower and the thorn. You're everything that's fair in love and war.
8. The future is a question mark of kerosene and electric sparks.
9. In this world of news, I've found nothing new.
10. Love could be a verb.
Thanks to this exercise -- since you're challenged to look at the lyrics as an outsider -- you will have a handy reference sheet of the best quotables from the album, that can be used as your MySpace profile name, or your MSN Messenger screen name, or as a wall-hanging or poster, or you could actually use it to make a t-shirt! But why all this? Not only to help increase your appreciation for the lyrics, but to get people thinking, get people asking: who said it? Immortalize these words, these ideas, these truths.
Things to note: (a) If something from my Top 10 is on yours too, instead of typing it out, write "#7" or whatever position the quote's at on my list - so your list is sort of like an "update" on mine, which makes it easier I guess - you just have to list the ones you think I should've included, basically. (b) The quotes don't have to be ranked in any order - my numbering is just for the sake of it, for easy referencing in comments. (c) Avoid squeezing more than 2-3 lines into one quote unless it works - 'cause we're aiming for a list of punchlines, more or less. (d) Try and keep it to 10 in total - I know how hard it is to leave some out, I have a separate list of "leftover" quotes here, 10 of them (which is probably the more interesting list, if not the best) - but you're free to list your "honorable mentions" separately.
Now get those lyric-sheets and pencils/highlighters out! ;)
(Update on 12th Feb '07:) These noteworthy additions in the comments section make up our next 10 (again, in no particular order):
11. Man-made never made our dreams collide. 12. Every lament is a love song.* 13. The old clock is a thief. 14. Everyone I know needs love like drugs, like a common cold we could never shrug.* - from Anonymous
15. I am the beater of the dead horse. (its from the "Oh! EP" but its too good to exclude :p ) - from Heather
16. Let your love be strong and I don't care what goes down. - from Heather & Ro-Jo
17. Maybe we've been caught singing red, white, blue and green - but that ain't my America. - from Ro-Jo
18. The blind leading the lied to. 19. Is it true, would you do what I want you to, if I show up with the right amount of bling? 20. You bite and claw your way back home but you're running the wrong way.* - from Rose
(those marked with an * are ones that made it on my "Honorable Mentions" list, too - which, by the way, I'll share with ya'll once you guys' lists stop flowing in.)
The Toronto show on the 28th has been moved from the Guvernment to the Kool Haus, a bigger venue. Also, there's a contest here for those who plan to go to this show. Tickets to the show and all of Switchfoot's discography waiting to be won.
Napster now has an exclusive live "album" of the guys, featuring "Oh! Gravity.", "Dirty Second Hands" and "Let Your Love Be Strong". It sucks that they don't allow Canadians to buy. (Thanks LOBH.)
If anyone going to a show this tour wants to do a review/write-up for our readers, feel free to send it along to philemon.t[AT]gmail[DOT]com, we'd be glad to feature it. The same goes for fan art, pictures, rarities, ideas, suggestions, feedback, anything - send 'em all along. I don't talk about submissions much in an official way (as of yet), but we do accept and appreciate them. The more interactive this gets, the better. :)
Greetings from scotland! We are currently out on the European portion of the tour. We have been amazed at every stop. My european friends, we really had no idea! Thanks for selling these shows out and singing along. We already cannot wait to come back. If you didn't know, you can see our travels in our new "daily foot" section of the site. click here
Also, for the upcoming tour in the US and Canada we wanted to do something that we've never done before. You can now go to our site and vote for the songs we will play in your city. It may be the coolest thing or a huge mistake...but we are going for it. If you don't see something on the list, you can even write in a song for us to cover during our set. To vote, just go here...
Another thing that we've never done before: sell bootlegs of a few songs from the show at the end of the night. See for a lot of us, the end of the night comes too soon. This way, you could actually be listening to the show in your car on the way home from the gig! So we're still trying to figure this one out logistically, but where there's a will there's a way. This is the closest we've come to a live cd. At the end of the tour I suppose we'll have 39 of 'em!- only available that night. We'll keep you posted.
In other news, we have posted the finalists of the coloring contest that we have been running. You can browse over 30 entries and download any of them to show your switchfoot pride. To see the finalists and vote on which ones should become a permanent member of our website's download section...just click here.
Cassie, our resident graphics expert, is at entry #4 in the second group, while Gellie (who coined the site's name "switchfeed", and also helps me out) revels in the beauty of somewhat-random simplicity, at #7 in the first group. If you love switchFeed, you might wanna consider rooting (read: voting) for these girls. :p
Don't forget to check out the new interview on the switchGoogler. It's seriously great.
And a reminder: there's just 2 more days left to enter the iloverock contest for Canadian fans, so if you wanna interview the band, better hurry up.
Jon playing an intimate acoustic of "24" at a pub in Swansea, Wales, after their gig.
"Company Car" at the same pub:
A video blog on "Learning to Breathe":
A video blog on the Frankfurt show:
An acoustic performance of "Stars" from I don't know when.
Another (longer) live video of "Faust", and "Only Hope" from the same show on the current tour.
Someone thought it might be a good idea to bring Faust, Midas & Himself alive, in this comical attempt.
I'm not a Harry Potter fan (though I love Hermione, but that's another story)... but I know a few readers who are, so here's a clip that brings HP and Switchfoot together, for those who are interested.
Filed under "Fan Behaviour - Do's and Dont's 101".
(If you are the girl in this picture: I got this randomly from someone who had no idea who you are or where this picture comes from - so in case you want the picture taken down, please leave a comment and let me know. It's all just in good humour. ;))
Download: Spirits In The Material World (Police cover)
(update on Feb 8, '07:)The omniscient Katers just let me know that the song "was done on April 25th, 2003 in a show at Norman, Oklahoma. A fan bootlegged the show and shared it with us here [on the message boards]."
(update @ 3:51pm:)You can now add this to your MySpace profile.
I've never seen this posted anywhere before (maybe sometime in some thread on the boards, but apart from that, nope.) I love it.
Also, a couple video clips of "Faust" performed at Frankfurt the other day (thanks LOBH) - it's bootleg-quality, but what the hey - we haven't seen this song done live before, and its pretty cool:
Don't miss the Daily Foot entries! I can hardly wait for the tour to arrive in Canada.
Some new comments on the Beyonce poll discussion, in case you forgot to check back.
[Loving the new "meteoric" album review on the switchGoogler? I am. Our next installment of a "review slew" will be here soon.]
I wonder how it must feel for Jon to have someone he's never met draw his face more than a handful of times (the price of fame?), but that said, you can't ignore this switchFeeder's talent. Also, I figured some of you might might find them useful for your site's design or something (myspace, fansites, etc.), or there might be some t-shirt maker interested in these drawings (to balance out the excessive Bob-Marley-smoking-a-joint tees walking around?), in which case I suggest you email her at jes_7suerte[AT]hotmail[DOT]com first (but Jon's "not buying it", I'll warn ya ;)).
You have major skills, Jess. Thanks for sharing. :)
Add us on MySpace... and listen to a couple bonus tracks!
So yeah, we've caught the MySpace bug. I've been thinking of doing it for a while, but Britt's suggestion on the switchBoard finally made me do it. We will soon upgrade the page and make it "full of energy and bling". But meanwhile, you can add us: myspace.com/switchfeed. You might wanna tell your switchfooty MySpace friends to check us out and add us too, and to make that easy for you, we're giving them a great reason to do so:
Also posted on the page are "The Shadow Proves The Sunshine (alternate version)" and "Burn Out Bright (acoustic)". These tracks are posted for evaluation purposes only, if you wish to own either track, please buy it from the store that sells it.
So I feel like showing off my guitar signed by Switchfoot (is it addressed to Company Car's Mike? :p)
(anyone else think Jon's signature here looks like a smiley if you look at it from a vertical angle?)
This performance of "Meant to Live" on FOX ROX (from back when the guys had shorter, um, hair) was added on YouTube yesterday, and, being the Switchfoot video connoiseiur that I am, I've never seen this one, so I figured you probably haven't either:
A noteworthy instrumental rendition of "Revenge", by Adam K:
The chat applet has been moved from the bottom to a page of its own. This was done so (a) the homepage would load faster, (b) newcomers on the site won't have to hear those mysterious sounds anymore (there's a button on the applet to turn sound off, by the way), (c) those who aren't here to chat are no longer forced to have to have it loaded on every page they visit on the site. Use the "chat" link/tab at the very top to go to its own page. Also, the Daily Foot RSS feed is pimped up now - you can add it to your own site ("+MySite"), or subscribe to it on your own feed reader ("XML"). I'm aware it didn't update promptly this morning, but I worked on that and it shouldn't happen again.
A concert review by CCM Magazine, scanned and uploaded by LOBH.
*interview* Also, an interview with Todd Cooper (who co-wrote "Dirty Second Hands") by LOBH - keep up the good work with these interviews, Jeanna.
If you're going to the WA show on the 17th Feb, you don't wanna miss this post by ~Daisy~ on the message boards:
If you're anything like me, which I assume you are. :p Then you want to get the best spots possible for this show. I called the venue and all you have to do (if you wish) is come to the Big Easy's Bourbon Street "Uptown Food and Spirits" and eat there before the show. The people that eat there are the ones that are let in first!
The restaurant opens at 4:00 and it's first come, first serve. (You can't make reservations.)
See you there! :D
Rolling Stone has some (exclusive?) live Switchfoot songs - including "Awakening" (with harmonica) and "Oh! Gravity." - check it out. (Thanks "the o show"!)
sfsurferdude let us know that the Nothing Is Sound album cover made an appearance on The Jonas Brothers' "Year 3000" music video. Picture by Sobe:
Don't forget to check out the article by Top40-charts.com, listed on the switchGoogler (on the sidebar) - its pleasing to see that kind of press.
Lastly, a picture I saw somewhere and saved on my computer because I loved it. If you took this picture, please leave a comment and let us know, so we can credit you! Update @ 3:27pm: picture by Andy Barron (it had to be him :)).
Tim's hair is kinda like a halo. :D Oops, did I just mention Tim's hair? My sincerest apologies for this cardinal error. (Haha, you won't get that if you're not a boardie. :p)
PS: From now on, I'll post the big news events as they happen (or as soon as I can), and put out the remaining in weekly "news digests" like this (hence this is #1). And please do let me know if ever there's anything newsworthy that I forget to post or am unaware of.
This week's song is 'Amazed' by Greg Laswell. He has to be one of my new favorite artists, and I can listen to his album over and over again (and I was a couple weeks ago). His album "Through Toledo" came out last year, and one of the things that's really awesome about it is that Laswell played every instrument on the album. He did everything himself, and the result is not in the least bit disappointing.
[Props to the designer that made that cover]. The album itself is kinda on the downer side, Laswell admitting so himself. The song that highlights this, and is my new favorite venting song, is 'Amazed'. The setting is that Laswell is talking to an ex who ran away and are "catching up" (as much as you would with an ex), and she's just fumbling through her words:
I'm amazed at how you Fumble through saying the Things that you do, I don't know how you do it...
I already said it was my new favorite venting song, and that chorus is exactly why. It's not even necessary for the relationship to have been romantic in nature - it's easily applicable to friends who abandoned you when you needed them (and I'm sure we all have a few of those, except maybe Phil :p). But anyways, the song's great, and Greg Laswell is awesome (hoping to see him play tonight). If you enjoy this, you can grab the album, and also pick up his version of 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun' - highly recommended. Enjoy!
Yes, you read that right. Now this site has a chatroom where you can instant-message (IM) with other fans. And it's not the "inCircles" thing I've had for a couple days - that was on an experimental basis, and I ended up taking it down. This one is much better - click on the "chat" button at the very top (it's replaced the "home" button - clicking the header graphic will now take you to the homepage). Or you could just scroll to the very bottom of the site.
Remember to type in a name when you first use it, and if you wanna keep your name forever, go here and register it.
I trust you guys will use this service in a classy way, but if there's someone who's being inappropriate (there's always a chance, since this is on a public domain), you can click their name on the right pane to "mute" them.
Would I be wrong in calling it the first Switchfoot chatroom on the WWW? :$
Also, there's a new Daily Foot widget on the sidebar that will automatically update itself whenever Andy updates. Yes, I RSS-ified it. :)
So yeah, that's what I've been working on for much of today. I know I owe a reply to a couple of you who have emailed me - I just wanna apologize for not having responded yet. Besides being busy, not having my laptop working yet is a bit of a handicap. GMail has trouble running on this oldish machine. But I'll reply soon, promise. And if any of you have tried emailing webmaster@switchfeed.com or any @switchfeed.com address for that matter, it hasn't reached us - I just learnt that there's something that needs to be done to configure the domain for email addresses, so I need to get on that. Meanwhile, you can reach me at philemon[AT]gmail[DOT]com
Katelyn found this poem that reminded her of "Burn Out Bright".
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Here are the final results of the previous poll. Does it surprise anyone that, out of 187 people who voted, 49.2% voters download music illegally (whether occassionally or regularly)? That's one of every two people.
I'm not gonna get moralistic about this, but, treating it as a consumer phenomenon, I'll just say I hope the music industry is paying attention. The times they're a-changin'. You adapt or you die.
But that's no revelation. Programs like iTunes and Napster are already changing the face of music...
On to the new question. Now that the initial novelty of the event has settled down, I thought it would make for some interesting discussion: do you think it was a good idea to cover a Beyonce song?
The question becomes valid when you consider that it didn't entirely seem to be a joke--the guys did it earnestly, and they did a great job at it (in my opinion). I don't mean to make a judgement about the original, or about Beyonce, but I imagined some people might have concerns about issues like, say, how it could affect the band's image, for example. I'd especially like to hear from those who've voted "no" - why do you think so, or why do you think some people would think so? I could think of some reasons, but lets hear it from you guys, I talk more than needed anyway.
(Don't forget to vote. And for the record, I voted "yes". Oh, and, I thought some of you might like to know that Beyonce considers herself a Christian.)
And the award for the world's coolest guitar goes to...
...Jonathan Mark Foreman! Thanks to Debje, the mystery guitar that caused a stir after the Leno appearance (we weren't sure if it was the cover art on the guitar) has been exposed: Another picture by Debje from the same show in the Netherlands. This one has Jon frozen (for starters, there's a part in "American Dream" where the entire band freezes for a few long seconds): Andy the Barron reports from Germany, for those of you who'd like to catch tonight's show on the switchCam:
i'm currently in the process of trying to get it set up to broadcast tonight's show for you webcam-loving peeps out there. if it works, it should be up in about an hour or so. tell your friends and e-friends. i'll give you an update either way. sweet.
peace out from germany.
andy
ps. the daily foot should be up and running soon also. patience :)
My brother from another mother, Marty, who lives in Holland, got to play "Stars" on stage with Switchfoot - Jon pulled him up when he saw Marty's sign that asked "Can I play Stars?" Good move, Marty. You sure rocked like you belonged to that big stage. Next time Switchfoot tours Holland, I hope to see your band open for them.
I thought this was interesting. The drums don't come through clearly though, in the recording, for some reason. But its still cool.
Some of you might also be interested in this related blog entry that has its reservations about the idea. Feel free to leave a comment or opinion on the matter, if you read it.
