Published August 1st, 2006 by hrabbach
Switchfoot - Lonely Nation
Today I want to take a look at another song with you - this time I have chosen “Lonely Nation” from Switchfoot’s 2005 album “Nothing is sound”. Switchfoot have always been one of my favorite bands - perhaps one thing I like the most about them is their statement that they are not “Christian by genre” and managed to be successful in the “general market”, even refusing to be featured on the cover of CCM magazine simply because they didn’t want the christian “label”, even though they are Christians.
“Lonely Nation” is a song that I think a lot of us can relate to in a very real way. It talks about a phenomenon of today’s youth culture - being alone despite being around lots of people and being empty and hollow although there is so much to do. “We’re just numb and amused” is one of the key sentences here - the world is trying so hard to keep us entertained, but all of that is meaningless if God is not in it. We so often spend our lives looking for something the world can give us to fill that void in us and don’t see that there is nothing the world can give that could ever fill it. And in our search, we become so “me”-focused that our relationships become as meaningless as the rest of what we do. “Separate we are one” sums it up pretty well - we are united in our search for individualism and what we thinks makes us unique in fact unites us in ways we don’t even see.
“We are slaves of what we want” - as long as we put ourselves, our needs and goals, ambitions and dreams first, we are slaves to our own will. Only when we ask God to do His will can we break free from what binds us to the standards of this world and through our unity with Him find into more meaningful fellowship with others who have done the same. “I want more than my lonely nation” is calling us to no longer be satisfied with being just another individual in the “Lonely Nation”, but to reach out for more. Only with the help of God and if we stand together can we find true community and overcome the loneliness.
Song: Lonely Nation
Artist: Switchfoot
Album: Nothing Is Sound
Author: Jonathan Foreman, Tim Foreman
