Project Switchfoot: More Than Fine

My ongoing (and doomed to failure) attempt to give my take on all of Switchfoot's songs.

More Than Fine

When I wake in the morning,
I want to blow into pieces.
I want more than just ok, more than just ok.
When I’m up with the sunrise
I want more than just blue skies.
I want more than just ok, more than just ok.

I’m not giving up, giving up, not giving up now.
I’m not giving up, giving up, not backing down.

More than fine, more than bent on getting by.
More than fine, more than just ok.

When I’m lit with the sunshine.
I want more than just a good time.
I want more than just ok, more than just ok.

I’m not giving up, giving up, not giving up now.
I’m not giving up, giving up, not selling out.

More than oceans away from the dawn.
More than oceans away from who we are
More than oceans, more than oceans, yeah.

One of the things I love about Switchfoot is that their albums are actually albums, not just collections of songs. They've got a flow and purpose to them. The first three songs on The Beautiful Letdown are all about dissatisfaction. "We were meant to live for so much more." "This is your life, are you who you want to be?" And now "I want more than just ok." They're speaking to this universal sense of ennui, that feeling of discontentment and boredom that everyone experiences in their life.

Nobody is satisfied with "fine", with living the daily grind. Doesn't matter if your daily grind is toiling away doing manual labor, sitting in a cubicle, studying for classes, or being a movie star. It doesn't matter. You can just look at the lives of many athletes and celebrities who continually end up in the tabloids to see that discontentment comes in all walks of life, regardless of how "successful" you are. Life can easily become like it was for Bill Murray's character in Groundhog Day, repeating in an endless cycle of sameness, where it doesn't feel like anything will ever change. There's a burning desire in each of us for "more than fine, more than bent on getting by."

So, what the heck are we all looking for? At this point, Switchfoot's songs could really have been written by anyone, not necessarily a Christian group. There are no shortage of songs about unrest and being dissatisfied with your life. They're addressing a well-recognized issue. What's going to make a difference is how Switchfoot responds and addresses this problem with the rest of their songs. We'll get to that later though.

The song, though, has plenty to say to the Christian as well. I think too often we're content to settle for just "getting by". There should be no such thing as an "average Christian." We've been given the greatest gift in the world. We have a personal relationship with the almighty creator of the universe. There is nothing "average" about that. The way in which we live our lives should be radically changed. Our desire in this life shouldn't be for a comfortable existence, we should strive for more than that, "more than just ok." One of my favorite quotes is from a man named Tim Kizziar, who says “Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” Are we content with things that don't matter, or do we want "more than just a good time"? I'll end with my favorite quote in the world (anyone in the Peace Youth Group should know what's coming here):

"We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are "harmless," and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are "sideliners" -- coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!"
-Jim Elliot