A list of random fun facts about various Switchfoot songs!
Title your e-mail “Song Fun Fact”
+ The lyrics for “House of God, Forever” were taken from Psalms 23.
+ The first time Jon played “Your Love Is Strong” was in Georgia.
+ Jon says the two things he has the hardest time writing about are “God and girls”.
+ At the very beginning of O!G during Chad’s “drum solo” you can hear Jon say “Alright, here we go.”
+ Tim’s favorite song live is “Twenty-Four” even though Jon plays it by himself.
+ “The Cure for Pain” is Jon’s favorite song off of the EPs because it explains himself and his musical journey with his best friends over the past 10 years.
+ Jon started writing “The Shadow Proves the Sunshine” in Detroit, then finished it in South Africa.
+ “House of God, Forever” is one of the songs that he wrote when Emily asked him to make a worship album for her.
+ Jon wrote “Fatal Wound” while being filmed, and you can watch him write the song on the NIS dual disc.
+ Jon once collapsed on stage in the middle of “This Is Your Life”.
+ “Dare You To Move” is the only Switchfoot song that is on two albums.
+ Chad broke the kick pedal when recording “Daisy”… and he already had a sprained ankle.
+ Jon says “Dirty Second Hands” is somewhere between the clock, the thrift store, and the machine.
+ The vocal for “The Blues” was recorded on New Years day, and they ended up keeping that orginal vocal take for the album.
+ Jon sang into a piano for the vocals on “Shadow Proves the Sunshine”.
+ Jon says “Your Love Is Strong” is the sequel to “Let Your Love Me Strong.”
+ Jon wrote “Dare You To Move” while living in his parent’s house.
+ Jon wrote This Is Home after re-reading Prince Caspian
+ The Setting Sun was written when the guys were touring in Australia.
+ Jon wrote “My Love Goes Free” for his wife.
+ Jon wrote the song 24 after he broke his wrist skateboarding.
“This is a song that I wrote right after I broke my wrist trying to impress my then girlfriend, now wife. Yeah, it didn’t work actually. So I’m bombing this hill on this board that I borrowed from this girl… and I should have known, she had a cast on her arm. And the board, you know the longboard, gravity board, sector 9, those guys, they’ll cut it for the front wheels so the wheels don’t bite when you take a turn – it didn’t have that. It was homemade, her dad made it for her, and she had just broke her arm the day before on it, doing the exact same thing I was going to do, but I’m like ‘Oh, I’m smarter, I know what I’m doing’. So I come down bombing this hill and go to like impress these two people who could care less about skateboarding and just biff! Just like roll over and land on my arm and break my arm and it was the day before my 25th birthday. So I wrote this song that night and it’s a song called 24. And I didn’t have a cast on yet because I was convinced it wasn’t broken. I was trying to be all ‘Oh I’m cool, totally fine.’ I don’t think that impressed her either.”
+ Jon’s favorite song on Oh! Gravity. is Dirty Second Hands.
+ Chad’s favorite song on Oh! Gravity. is Awakening.
+ Jerome’s favorite songs on Oh! Gravity. are 4:12 and Faust, Midas, and Myself .
+ Tim’s favorite song on Oh! Gravity. is Let Your Love Be Strong.
+ ‘The Fatal Wound’ was written in Georgia.
+ The Beautiful Letdown was recorded in just 17 days.
+ There were originally supposed to be 12 songs on The Beautiful Letdown.
+ The song New Way to Be Human was rewritten almost 50 times before Jon was satisfied.
+ The Legend of Chin was recorded in 3 weeks.
+ Chad says the Dirty Second Hands is his favorite and the most challenging song to play.
+ Jon wrote Moon is a Magnet before he was married. It was his take on falling in love and dating.
+ Southbound Train was written on the train home from Santa Barba to San Diego. Jon had been visiting a monastary.
+ The guys attempted to put a jazz pre-chorus into American Dream while recording it. It didn’t work.
+ The following songs were on the short list for Nothing Is Sound, but didn’t make the cut:
Overthrown
We Are Bound
Daylight To Break
Faust, Midas & Myself
Dirty Second Hands
Ordinary Lovers
Connect With The Spies
Let Your Love Be Strong
Stitches
Circles
Revenge
+ The following songs were on the short list for Oh! Gravity., but didn’t make the cut:
We Walk Alone
Moon Is A Magnet
Red Eyes
Sleepwalking
Wolves
Faking It
Wound Up
Like A Weapon
Sound In My Mouth
So Messed Up
Overthrow
Revenge
Stitches
Spine
Daylight to Break
C’mon, C’mon
+ Songs that were believed to have the potential to be on Vice Verses, but didn’t make the cut:
All of God’s Children
Come Home
She Says (The Black-Eyed Blues)
Above the Roar
Anymore
As Wide As the Grave
Baby, Please Don’t Cry
Blood is Soul
Bloodlines
Bluebird
Contradiction
Dirty Streets of Gold
Dontcha Know
Fading
Fake Your Own Death
Fluorescent
Halfway
Holding On (CROSSED OUT)
I Can’t Let It Go This Time
I Dug Myself
Light and Heavy
Meantime
Moving Lips
Mr. Hyde
New Streams
People, Put Your Hands Up
Promise
Push (The Human Race)
Running From Me
Sleepwalking
Someday
Souvenirs
Sun In Your Eyes
Sunrise to Sunset
The Weight of the World
There’s Still Time
These Missing Things
We Walk Alone
Weapon
Whatcha Gonna Do For Deal?
Wide Open Spaces
Wolves
Wound Up
You Were Made For Love
Your Body Follows
+ Awakening orginally featured a harmonica.
+ Jon wrote “Love Isn’t Made” when he had to go to a studio in Florida all alone.
When Jon mentions “Cassius Clay” in the tune “Amy’s Song,” he is referring to Muhammad Ali. Cassius Clay was Ali’s real name.
+ Jon says the song “Goodnight Punk” is about the “abolition of genres.”
+ The guys ended up keeping Drew’s messed up clapping take (Podcast 
and using it in the record.
+ Jon and Tim’s grandparents favorite song on New Way To Be Human is Company Car.
+ Jon’s song “White As Snow” is taken from Psalms 51.
+ Jon’s song “Equally Skilled” is taken from Micah 7.