Switchfoot - Stars

The second song from Switchfoot's latest, Nothing Is Sound, is called Stars and is the first single. Here's the thoughts on the song from Switchfoot:

Here's another song that we've been playing live for a while. Maybe it's the Led Zeppelin side of me but I love a good rock riff and this one is really fun to play. It's a good builder that I'm anxious to play this summer.

Speaking of summer, I have a theory about social entropy; if you and I ever end up talking about existence drinking caffeinated beverages in the wee hours remind me to tell you all about it. For now let's just say that in a world of pain and war and divorce and greed and genocide, how does anything good ever happen? I understand the second law of thermodynamics in the physical world to be something like this: "Any system which is free of external influences becomes more and more disordered with time. This disorder can be expressed in terms of the quantity called entropy."

So without some sort of external influence on the social plane, I find no logical reason why humankind didn't see her last day a long time ago. Call it grace or love or anti-entropy- there must be something keeping things together. The question becomes, why do good things happen to bad people? In the song, the first verse looks at things from Descartes perspective, pinning the center of the universe on the individual. "Maybe I've been the problem," maybe I'm overcast, falling apart, etc... The second verse talks about our world from the perspective of the stars looking down on earth from the eternal dance of gravity and motion. I love the night sky. It reminds me of how small and insignificant i and my problems are in light of the infinite. When I look at the stars i feel like myself.

This is a song that has a great guitar riff in different parts of the song and is the highlight for me. There is also an amazing video for the song. As of this moment it seems Stars is having problems getting traction on the alternative charts as it topped out at #16 and I think it's probably better targeted for top 40. The chorus is very catchy and my sons and I like to really belt it out but I wonder if the main lyrics might be a bit over the average listeners head and they use words like entropy and penitent. This is a song that has a ton of meaning and unpacking it and understanding it isn't the easiest task.

The lyrics are below:

maybe i've been the problem
maybe i'm the one to blame
but even when i turn it off and blame myself
the outcome feels the same

i've been thinking maybe i've been partly cloudy
maybe i'm the chance of rain
and maybe i'm overcast
and maybe all my luck's washed down the drain

i've been thinking about everyone, everyone
you look so lonely

but when i look at the stars, when i look at the stars
when i look at the stars, i see someone else
when i look at the stars, the stars
i feel like myself

stars looking at a planet, watching entropy and pain
and maybe start to wonder
how the chaos in our lives could pass as sane
i've been thinking about the meaning of resistance
of a hope beyond my own
and suddenly the infinite and penitent begin to look like home
i've been thinking about everyone,everyone you look so empty

but when i look at the stars, when i look at the stars
when i look at the stars, i see someone else
when i look at the stars, the stars
i feel like myself

everyone, everyone feels so lonely
everyone yeah everyone feels so empty

when i look at the stars,
when i look at the stars,
when i look at the stars,
i feel like myself
when i look at the stars, the stars
i see someone.

From OurMusic.com

Technocrati Tags: switchfoot

Posted by Tim at September 10, 2005 09:25 PM