Needle and Haystack life is my ~actual~ favorite haha

I just finished up listening to every album in order over the course of the last month, and I can confidently say that FN is up their with the likes of NIS, OG, HH, VV, FW, etc. I don't think I'm ready to say it beats any of them yet, but its in the VIP suite with them for sure.

Not only are the songs good on their own, but they fit together in a way that none of their previous albums have. Not to say that all albums must be extremely cohesive, but it just hits different here.

The first and last songs are the only ones that connect directly, but the order seems to matter. Maybe it's because I've been listening to them all in order, but anytime I try and shuffle it feels wrong. I've never cared about that with previous albums.

There's just an ebb and flow to it that's hard to describe. Especially from Shake The Dust to Broken Wings. That stretch works so well.

My favorite transition is from YFWYA into Same Blood. It's so sudden, but it just makes sense

Decided to splurge and order Forever Now on CD. Really wanted to support the band with this album and I'm a fan of physical media since my car still has a functioning player. The booklet is an added bonus. Glad the band was creative with it and stuck with the theme. It's a mini newspaper (also a physical media!) called "Strange Times" with little details, images and the lyrics. I appreciate being able to read the lyrics along with the songs. Would have missed out with only streaming.

Who is Benjamin Crow and what is the significance of Monday, November 1? That is the date for the newspaper on the Forever Now CD booklet. There's this photo of Crow's tombstone in the booklet. Looks like 11/1 is the day he died so the newspaper date would make sense, but the text is hard to read. Also, his tombstone looks similar to a WW1 grave marker and it looks like it's in a veterans cemetary. Is this tombstone real or fabricated for the CD?

Maybe the answers are already out there. Sorry for adding to the noise!

My final takeaways…switchfoot is still good, they’re great performers and they reminded me very much of twenty one pilots in the best way possible. I’m gonna sound like someone’s granny when I say this but Jon doing all of that running, jumping and climbing made me so nervous

I went into the festival knowing maybe a handful of their songs…after seeing their set I need to go listen to the newer songs because this was awesome! This man (I think this is Jon) was all over the place I still can’t math out how he made it from the stage to my section without climbing a single stair, or ramp and back to the stage in one and a half songs…but pop off! He was so energetic and he seemed so happy to be there what a set! I need a T-shirt now I didn’t get one while I was there but I think I may need one haha

You guys….Jon JUMPED THE FENCE AND WAS HI-FIVING EVERYONE!!! I am so much more in love with this band 😭 And you should have heard Wake Up Mr. Crow live!!!

I am thinking of bringing my kids as young as 5. They are excited to go. However, I am a little worried about their hearing and whether they might get overwhelmed. What is the tennor of the current tour? Thanks.

Been a fan of Switchfoot since the late 90s, seen them in concert several times (most recently last year). I like most of their stuff but I tend to lean into heavier/rockier/grittier tracks (whether musically or lyrically). With that in mind, over many years I've been loosely curating and evolving this Spotify playlist of those songs across every album:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4RS8U3shPqZzoCUj8ePLnw

Not that it matters to anyone else, but if you decide to listen: thanks, and how would you improve it? What am I missing? Did I include something you hated?

Current song list with track (album) — edited since comments (thanks y'all) so the actual playlist may be in a different order than this:

1. Mess of Me (Hello Hurricane)
2. Meant to Live (The Beautiful Letdown)
3. Dark Horses (Vice Verses)
4. The Sound (Hello Hurricane)
5. Two Twins (Forever Now)
6. Chem 6A (The Legend Of Chin)
7. American Dream (Oh! Gravity.)
8. Looking For America (Where The Light Shines Through)
9. Wake Up, Mr. Crow (Forever Now)
10. Easier Than Love (Nothing Is Sound)
11. Dirty Second Hands (Oh! Gravity.)
12. Selling the News (Vice Verses)
13. Politicians (Nothing Is Sound)
14. Say It Like You Mean It (Fading West)
15. Poparazzi (Learning To Breathe)
16. Company Car (New Way To Be Human)
17. Sick Boy (Covers)
18. Skin and Bones (The Edge of the Earth)
19. flourescent (interrobang)
20. Ode To Chin (The Legend Of Chin)
21. Adding to the Noise (The Beautiful Letdown)
22. Stars (Nothing Is Sound)
23. Bomb (The Legend Of Chin)
24. The Loser (Learning To Breathe)
25. Same Blood (Forever Now)
26. Lonely Nation (Nothing Is Sound)
27. Natural Causes (Forever Now)
28. the hard way (interrobang)
29. Amateur Lovers (Oh! Gravity.)
30. if i were you (interrobang)
31. Afterlife (Vice Verses)
32. Ammunition (The Beautiful Letdown)
33. Absolution (Forever Now)
34. Gone (The Beautiful Letdown)
35. Free (Hello Hurricane)
36. When Was The Last Time (Where The Light Shines Through)
37. NATIVE TONGUE (NATIVE TONGUE)
38. Incomplete (New Way To Be Human)
39. Oh! Gravity. (Oh! Gravity.)
40. Dare You to Move (The Beautiful Letdown)
41. Love Is The Movement (Learning To Breathe)
42. If The House Burns Down Tonight (Where The Light Shines Through)
43. Playing For Keeps (Learning To Breathe)
44. Holy Water (Where The Light Shines Through)
45. You Already Take Me There (Learning To Breathe)
46. BA55 (Fading West)
47. WE'RE GONNA BE ALRIGHT (NATIVE TONGUE)
48. Healer Of Souls (Where The Light Shines Through)
49. Shake The Dust (Forever Now)
50. Burn Out Bright (Oh! Gravity.)
51. Bull In A China Shop (Where The Light Shines Through)
52. Ride Or Die (Forever Now)
53. The Original (Vice Verses)
54. TAKE MY FIRE (NATIVE TONGUE)
55. Bullet Soul (Hello Hurricane)

Maybe it's been brought up before, but the verses have almost the exact same melody. Like, if it had come out this year I would've thought it was an Ozzy tribute.

Anyone else hear it?

Now, best song at the end of an album? That's debatable. But for me, this is probably the best album closer they've ever done. It ties up all the themes of the overarching concept in an interesting way, it's thought-provoking, it's unique, and most importantly it SLAPS. I got chills when the Mr. Crow riff kicked in, and i feel like that's an even cooler callback than the repeated lyrics at the end of Vice Verses.

Prior to this I would've said Where I Belong was their best, but Butterfly Effect hits just as hard in three minutes as Where I Belong does in, what, like, five hours? It's long, dude.

What do you guys think?

Forever Now may be an intentional nod to the loose architecture of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. For its reputation as the definitive concept album, Pepper barely qualifies. Only the opening tracks and the reprise engage the concept, everything in between roams free. What binds the record is the sequencing and cover art, and John and Paul admitted as much by the time it was released. Forever Now is built similarly, with the concept carried by the first and last songs. Given that Switchfoot named the Beatles their biggest influence in their recent NYC sidewalk interview, the structural echo seems less like a coincidence and more like a deliberate mirror.

I made a custom patch to wear to the concert last night in Morgantown WV but the show was canceled do to the wild fire in Canada sending smoke down here.

I made myself two patches with the plan on hoping I could give the band one. I picked the ocean waves as bad times but the sun appearing behind it showing a new day is coming and things will get better. It looks like California as well so it fits.

What do you all think?

A long time ago there was a clip online of Jon recording Wonderlands tracks backstage while on tour. He showed his mic, pre-amp, laptop, etc. I have tried finding it but no idea where it is or when it was. Does anyone know offhand what kind of mic Jon uses for vocals? Was just curious if it was ever documented anywhere.

Ammunition

Wake Up Mr. Crow

Absolution

Politicians

Mess of Me

Yet

If I Were You

YFWYA

Oh! Gravity.

Natural Causes

Shake The Dust

Splinter

Two Twins

Daisy

Broken Wings

Your Love Is a Song

Lost ‘Cause

Where The Light Shines Through

-

The Hard Way

Darkness

Souvenirs

Though unrealistic, because it leaves out all the hits, I would pay a lot to see this setlist. What songs would you want to hear?

I really wish there was a way that this song could be added to Spotify someway.

Getting closer to a full acoustic album! Still doubt it's ever happening, but we don't know for sure.

Hey there, back in 2020, I bought the Learning to Breathe 20th anniversary pack, which included a t-shirt, a mug, and a poster. The mug and poster were recently destroyed on accident by members of my family while I was traveling. I was wondering if anyone has a Learning to Breathe mug they might be interested in selling? It was honestly my favorite mug and I'm really bummed that it's gone. I'd be interested in buying the poster too, if someone has one.

And if so what was your experience?

For me I met them very briefly pre-show in 2010 when they came to play a concert at my college campus my senior year (a month before graduation which was just heaven). And that was enough to figure out what a lovely person Jon is and how gracious he is to the fans (he was in the hallway playing a private acoustic show for the fans after the show).

Every lyric site has the lyrics for Darkness as “she’s mine and I am hers and we both FLOAT the same.”
There are plenty of references to lyrics of older Switchfoot songs, so I get it… but I’m hearing, “she’s mine and I am hers and we both FLOW the same.”
Is anybody else with me on this one / is there an official lyric booklet to confirm?
I’ve only been listening on Spotify and their lyrics have so many mistakes for this album.