“Lonely Nation” by Switchfoot, Monday, June 14, 2021

 

In 2003, Switchfoot reached their career high when they released their fourth album, The Beautiful Letdown. The band had been gaining popularity from their third album Learning to Breathe. Three songs from the album were featured in the movie A Walk to Remember. What happened next was the massive rock radio/Top 40/Christian Rock hit, "Meant to Live." The Christian surf rock band never quite reached the same level of success on their subsequent releases, but they consistently had tracks show up on Mainstream Rock and Alternative charts for years to come. And the Christian market? They devoured Switchfoot albums.

SCREAMING WITHOUT LUNGS. Lead vocalist Jon Foreman set a distinct tone in Christian Rock. Arriving on the scene in 1997, Christian Rock was in the middle of a culture war. There were three big bands at the time: the Newsboys, dc talk, and Audio Adrenaline, and their message was "stand up for Christ no matter what you look like." The lyrics of these bands were on the radical side for the time, essentially mirroring the televangelists who condemned their rock 'n' roll sound. Jerry Falwell had to be a bad guy if they kicked dc talk out of Liberty University, and yet, the lyrics of Christian Rock protested taking prayer out of public schools, teaching evolution, and promoted sexual abstinence until marriage--all core values of evangelicals and the moral majority. But then there was Switchfoot. Jon Foreman's lyrics are much less about personal morality and much more about social justice. Some of the values were the same, but Foreman's approach was much more positive toward the world and more critical of the church. "Lonely Nation" is an example of where Switchfoot starts to set themselves apart from where Christianity headed around 2016.

DON'T LEAVE ME HOLLOW. I'M TIRED OF FEELING LOW.  In 2016's "Looking for America," featuring Christian rapper Lecrae, Switchfoot took their message even further--refusing to align with an evangelicalism that propitiated racism. Sadly, fellow Christian Rocker, Skillet's John Cooper, has denounced Critical Race Theory as being a divisive force in the Church.  It's Cooper's downplaying of racism that shows that Christianity needs voices like Foreman's to challenge the status quo. Foreman's challenge in "Lonely Nation" is to stop letting corporations control us in a perpetual cycle of consumption. Of course, it's nearly impossible to stop being a consumer, and I don't think that's the point. Foreman wants us to examine it and try to define our lives with something other than the things we buy. He reminds us that corporations don't have our best interests at hand. I remember listening to this song on my iPod on the shores of the Pacific in Yap, thinking about what was next for me and my career. I thought about becoming a teacher who lives for others, rather than myself. Listening to Switchfoot does this. Foreman's lyrics, played in the youth group van, challenge the kids who are really listening to be better than the evangelical status quo. "Looking for America" tells us, sorry Skillet, but you're looking at this from a too simplistic worldview. If we follow your teaching, Mr. Cooper, what changes? Nothing. Same old formula. Same old broken system. If we follow your teaching, Mr. Foreman, what changes? Everything. 

Read “Lonely Nation” by Switchfoot on Genius.