Listening to Records: Learning to Breathe

This is the last Switchfoot album with just Jon, Tim, and Chad.  It's also probably the last time they took baths, as they lost the clean cut look after this.  This is certainly their only overtly Christian album.

Here is the song from "Learning to Breathe."  They revamped it for the next album.  This is the song.  This is the song that ended up on Walk to Remember and launched Switchfoot into secular music.  The Learning to Breathe version is cleaner, much like the boys were. 

Amazing song.  It's like these guys are still cooped up in child-world, where they live with parents and are done with college but are still trying to get jobs and live independently.  It's where I am at this point, and I am certainly learning to adjust to not being free after the college independence.  I'm learning to breathe.  More importantly, I'm learning to rely on the Lord for everything as my obsessions and worries get in my way.

Very Christian song.  A good music video where they are flying planes.  They say they are musicians and we shouldn't try it at home.  Darn. 

Either way, they live for heaven now.  God is so present to them that they are already in heaven.  It's true.  Jesus Christ is heaven and we don't need to pine for it now.  I hope they still believe that these days.

This song is amazing.  Years later, I saw so many people wearing t-shirts with "Love is the Movement" on them.  I had no idea that was referring to the Switchfoot song as the song didn't get on Walk to Remember, but it does.  I just learned tonight that it's a theme song for "To Write Love on Her Arms" that organization that works to stop teen suicide and cutting.

Tune for the poparazzi.  Last really cute Switchfoot song with references to pop culture.  Another in the theme of riches don't get you everything.  In fact, you'll be more depressed with fame and fortune.  You'll get no private moment and will have to mold to the world's expectations.  Sadly, this is exactly what happened to Switchfoot in the next years.

Innocence Again.  The effects of God's grace on someone's life.  We've ruined our lives but through Jesus's blood, God restored us to a time when we were still innocent.

Playing for Keeps.  A lovely forgettable song, therefore, I'm not linking to it.

Only the losers win.  Very catchy version of Jesus's warnings: if you gain you're life you'll lose it; if you lose you're life you'll gain it.

The Economy of Mercy.  They seriously need to sing this song again.  It's their most Christian song.  In fact, it's almost reformed.  You should listen to this twice.

Erosion, er, I mean, "eroosion," as it is pronounced in Jon's Kermit voice.  This is one of the many songs where I make fun of their pronunciations.

Living is Simple.  Very happy song with a good ending, and another you should listen to over and over.  It's the best song on the album.  Living is at least meant to be simple.  They don't seem so simple on later albums, but right now, it's just as it should be.