:: switchfoot ::

Jon Sayings

"10 chords is a lot! I only know about 9 and a half... All nine and a half chords sound really good on a vox!"

"If we spend our time obsessing with the future or regretting the past then we will never live. Tomorrow will always be tomorrow and yesterday cannot be changed"

"It's a good thing my parents named me Jon because that's what everyone calls me"

Response to why he doesn't use the name of Jesus in his lyrics:

"...To be honest, this question grieves me because I feel that it represents a much bigger issue than simply a couple SF tunes. In true Socratic form, let me ask you a few questions:

Does Lewis or Tolkien mention Christ in any of their fictional series?

Are Bach's sonata's Christian?

What is more Christ-like, feeding the poor, making furniture, cleaning bathrooms, or painting a sunset?

There is a schism between the sacred and the secular in all of our modern minds. The view that a pastor is more "Christian" than a girls volleyball coach is flawed and heretical. The stance that a worship leader is more spiritual than a janitor is condescending and flawed. These different callings and purposes further demonstrate God's sovereignty. Many songs are worthy of being written. Switchfoot will write some, Keith Green, Bach, and perhaps yourself have written others. Some of these songs are about redemption, others about the sunrise, others about nothing in particular: written for the simple joy of music. None of these songs has been born again, and to that end there is no such thing as Christian music.

No. Christ didn't come and die for my songs, he came for me. Yes. My songs are a part of my life. But judging from scripture I can only conclude that our God is much more interested in how I treat the poor and the broken and the hungry than the personal pronouns I use when I sing. I am a believer. Many of these songs talk about this belief. An obligation to say this or do that does not sound like the glorious freedom that Christ died to afford me. I do have an obligation, however, a debt that cannot be settled by my lyrical decisions

My life will be judged by my obedience not my ability to confine my lyrics to this box or that. We all have a different calling; Switchfoot is trying to be obedient to who we are called to be. We're not trying to be Audio A or U2 or POD or Bach: we're trying to be Switchfoot. You see, a song that has the words: "Jesus Christ" is no more or less "Christian" than an instrumental piece. (I've heard lot's of people say jesus christ and they weren't talking about their redeemer.) You see, Jesus didn't die for any of my tunes. So there is no hierarchy of life or songs or occupation only obedience.

We have a call to take up our cross and follow. We can be sure that these roads will be different for all of us. Just as you have one body and every part has a different function, so in Christ we who are many form one body and each of us belongs to all the others. Please be slow to judge "brothers" who have a different calling and thank you for reading."

"Let's try to unpack the question. "Is it Christian or not?" Christ was a revolutionary, one that the world didn't understand. He wasn't trying to overthrow the government or the balance of power. His revolution was a revolution of being, a revolution from the inside out. Am I christlike? The government of the heavens is very close, is my life in line with this government? Am I one? Am I living a life that means something? A life that has eternal worth? These are big questions to answer with a simple yes or no. As much as our songs mean to me, these tunes are just tunes... Ditties that a couple guys from california wrote about the 21st century world. Yes, words are important but our actions speak so much louder than the songs. You can label our music however you want; we are accountable for how we treat each other. What happens onstage is important- what happens offstage is paramount. Call me a seeker of truth, a believer, a disciple, a follower, a leader... call the songs what you want, most of them come from a desire to see change in myself, to see change in our world, and to see my redeemer face to face."

"The Kingdom of God isn't ushered in with visible signs. You won't be able to say, `Here it is!' or `It's over there!' For the Kingdom of God is among you" Salt and light presupposes an environment of darkness and a lack of saltiness. This life is our chance to live out the love we've been given so freely."

"Sometimes in life, we look toward the next big thing, like the big final for college students. We think that if we can just get to that last big thing, that last final, we can start living again. But we fail to realize that life happens in between the big things...Life is short. Live well."

Tim Sayings

"Jesus Christ is not, by any definition, a Letdown. The title the Beautiful Letdown comes from the realization that everything here on Earth will fail us. These are the letdowns. It is this realization that bring us to search for real truth, real love, real salvation. In this way, the letdowns become beautiful. Until a person comes to realize that nothing here on earth will satisfy him, he is restless. This realization brings surrender. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"phew! For a second there, I thought I was out of a job!" (Tim's response after rumours he was not on the current tour were cleared)

Chad Sayings

"Ahhhh...the sound of jazz...it's what I keep coming back to when all else starts to become noise. In France during a fine meal cucumbers are served between each course to cleanse the palette. Jazz is mine."

"I've always thought that putting out a record on a major label would be a lot like making a deposit at an ATM. You know exactly what you put into the machine, how much work went into making that paycheck and yet you are turning it over to the system and hoping that nobody changes anything after you drive away. In our case with this record what we put in is the same Switchfoot blood, sweat and tears as always, if anything more bold and true than ever. The songs coming out in January are just that, nothing altered for the masses, no artificial sweeteners or missing zeros. The most exciting thing to me so far has been that the people who are working on this album are really listening to it. Thanks for your support, we can't wait for you to hear it."

Best non-musical talent:		Sleeping
Indulgences:		I would say sleeping
Thing about you that drives people crazy:		Sleeping while I'm driving
Most embarrassing moment:		When I fell asleep driving and almost killed the band. It was the first day of the tour and we were only about a half an hour into the freeway.
What most people don't know about me is:		That I sleep while driving
For the life of me, I can't:		Stay awake driving

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