Yesterday evening, after returning from a long run, I stretched by the heater in my room and mindlessly browsed Instagram. As I did so, I was met with some news: Switchfoot, one of my personal favorite bands, is taking an extended hiatus for the foreseeable future.
I always knew this day would come, but for some reason, I expected to see it coming. I expected to be ready to hear the news. That’s not how it happened, though. The news caught me off guard. It floored me. (Well, I was stretching, so I guess I was already on the floor, but you get it.)
Now, I like a lot of bands and artists. There are several groups I would miss should they break up or “take a break” (right. Okay, Ross…geez), but of all of those groups, Switchfoot is the one that hits hardest. Few others would even come close.
Switchfoot was the first band I intentionally followed. I remember when The Beautiful Letdown came out. I listened to that all the time. It was the soundtrack of my childhood. And when Hello Hurricane was released during my high school years, it was one of the first albums I remember buying with my own funds.
And while Switchfoot had been my favorite band for a long time, when Vice Verses showed up, they became more than a band to me. Several of the songs on that album (Restless, Thrive, Souvenirs, and Where I Belong specifically) really touched me as I first began wrestling with depression.
Switchfoot’s music has reached my soul in ways I can only barely understand. They’ve deeply influenced more than just the songs I write; they’re tunes have informed how I interact with the world more than I often realize. They’re more than just another rock band to me.
When I heard the news last night, I immediately put on a few of their songs, at least one from each album they’ve put out. As I listened to Souvenirs, my eyes began to water. I followed that with Always and it wrecked me. When Jon sang the lyrics, “Hallelujah, I’m caving in…” forget about it. I couldn’t contain myself anymore. I bawled for the rest of the song.
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It’s an incredible thing how five people I don’t know can have such an enormous impact on my life. It’s incredible how they’ve spoken directly to my soul and they don’t even know my name. It’s incredible how I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. Some probably feel even stronger than I do.
Music is a powerful thing. It’s not just Switchfoot. They may be the most influential music in my life (rivaled only by Noah Gundersen), but another group or artist might fill the same role for someone else.
It’s as if music reaches across ordinary human limitations. It goes further than anyone ever could without a melody. It builds and destroys, gives hope and despair, encourages and devastates, and all this in all the best ways.
So even though I doubt any of them will ever read this, I want to say thank you, Jon, Tim, Chad, Drew, and Jerome. Thanks for being the score in times of joy, my lifeline through the darkness, and a voice always encouraging me to hope even when despair comes more naturally. Thank you for daring me to move.