Switchfoot’s Fading West Album Lyrics

New Switchfoot Album, “Fading West” released today, January 14th, 2014. As a lifelong Switchfoot fan let me be one of thousands to say that this album does not disappoint.

I’ve been quite impressed with Jon Foreman’s lyrics on each of Switchfoot’s previous albums and this album, again, doesn’t disappoint. For my own future-reference I wanted to collect the lyrics of each track of Fading West and post them here on the blog. Unfortunately at this moment they’re not yet available on Switchfoot’s main site, so I’ve scanned the Internet for the lyrics and found some that I was able to edit as best I can to be more accurate than most I’ve found.

If you haven’t yet heard the new album, it is currently streaming at Relevant Magazine’s “The Drop” and you can listen to it in its entirety. I’d also highly recommend buying it on Amazon.

Song titles and lyrics:

“Love Alone is Worth the Fight”
I’m trying to find where my place is
I’m looking for my own oasis
So close I can taste this
The fear that love alone erases

So I’m back to the basics
I figure it’s time I face this
Time to take my own advice

Love alone is worth the fight
Love alone is worth the fight

And I never thought it’d come to this
But it seems like I’m finally feeling numb to this
The funny thing about a name is
You forget what the reason you were playing the game is

And it’s all an illusion
A 21st century institution
So I’m headed down the open road unknown

And we find what we’re made of
Through the open door
Is it fear you’re afraid of
What are you waiting for

Love alone is worth the fight
Love alone is worth the fight

We’re only here for a season
I’m looking for the rhyme and reason
Why you’re born, why you’re leaving
What you fear and what you believe in

Why you’re living and breathing
Why you’re fighting it and getting it even
Let’s go headed down the open road unknown

And we find what we’re made of
Through the open door
Is it fear you’re afraid of
What are you waiting for

Love alone is worth the fight
Love alone is worth the fight

Here we are, here we go
Where the road is our own
Hear it calling you home
Here we are, here we go

Love alone is worth the fight
Love alone is worth the fight
Love alone is worth the fight
Love alone is worth the fight
Love alone is worth the fight

“Who We Are”
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5

We were just kids just living in
Wide-eyed, innocence
minivan floor like a tenement
We were just kids who believed in
More than just dreams in
More than just justified
Ends to a means

With the sky
wide-open like a child
eyes-open like a child
unbroken by the wheels gone by
We know

Who we are
(in the fever of our youth)
Who we are
(we’ve got nothing left to lose)
Who we are
(there’s still time enough to choose)
Who we are
Who we are
Who we are

1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5

We were just kids
Just limited misfit itinerant
Outcasts singing ’bout the dissonance

We were just kids
wide-open like a child
eyes-open like a child
unbroken by the wheels gone by

We know

Who we are
(in the fever of our youth)
Who we are
(we’ve got nothing left to lose)
Who we are
(there’s still time enough to choose)
Who we are
Who we are
Who we are
Who we are
Who we are

They said it’s complicated
They said we’d never make it this far
But we are
They said the fight would break us
The struggle helped to make
Who we are

Who we are
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5

Who we are
(in the fever of our youth)
Who we are
(we’ve got nothing left to lose)
Who we are
(there’s still time enough to choose)
Who we are
Who we are
Who we are

Who we are
(I wanted something with a meaning)
Who we are
(Yeah I wanted something to believe in)
Who we are
(Yeah, sure as I’m here breathing)
Who we are
(I wanted more)
Who we are
(Yeah, I wanted more)
Who we are
(Yeah, I wanted more than just a feeling)
Who we are
Who we are
(Yeah, for more than just a season)
Who we are
Who we are
(Yeah, we become what we believe in)
Who we are

Who we are
Who we are

“When We Come Alive”
The sun goes down like a photograph
You try to stop time in the aftermath
But it’s gone gone

Yesterday reads like a tragedy
I try not to lose what’s left of me
But it’s gone
Yeah, but we carry on

We are fire
Burning brightly
You and I
We light the sky
When we ignite
Yeah Yeah
When we come alive
When we come alive

It feels like I could get lost today
The winds in my mind get swept away
And I’m gone gone

And it’s one last time to the wishing well
I throw down the change and I wish them well
But they’re gone
Yeah, but we’ll carry on

We are fire
Burning brightly
You and I
We light the sky
When we ignite
Yeah Yeah
When we come alive
When we come alive

We are souls on fire
We are reaching higher
We are souls on fire
When we come alive
When we come alive

We are fire
You and I

We are fire
Burning brightly
You and I
We light the sky
When we ignite
Yeah Yeah
When we come alive
We will come alive

Strength, heart, soul

“Say It Like You Mean It”
All this noise of rock and roll
Feels a lot like we’re ready to fold
Feels a lot like we’ve lost the goal
Lost our minds and lost the soul of a nation

A couple lost generations
We’re the ones lost and losing patience
I’m still looking for a correlation
Between what to say and how you roll

Spit it out
?Yeah, spit it out

Say it like you mean it
Say it like you mean it
Say it like you mean it
But I still don’t believe it

Oh my soul, wonder where’d you go?
It never did feel like my control
I never could fit in microphones
I never could fit in stop and stand ovations

Give me the songs of the nation
Cause it feels like law lacks motivation (?)
See, I’m still looking for a correlation
Between what you say and how you roll

Spit it out
?Like you mean it
Spit it out

You say it like you mean it
But I still don’t believe it

“The World You Want”
I’m picking up the pieces
I’m trying out adhesives
I’m trying to fix a place that feels broken
All my words are failing me
My voices don’t unveil me
I’m trying to say the hope that’s unspoken

Is this the world you want?
Is this the world you want?
You’re making it
Every day you’re alive
Is this the world you want?
Is this the world you want?
You’re making it

The world feels so malicious
With all our hits and misses
Feels like we’re in the business of rust
‘Cause when I stop to listen
All the moments I’ve been missin’
I finally hear a voice I can trust

Is this the world you want?
Is this the world you want?
You’re making it
Every day you’re alive
Is this the world you want?
Is this the world you want?
You’re making it
Every day you’re alive

You change the world
You change the world
You change the world
Every day you’re alive
You change the world
Honey, you change the world
You change my world

You start to look like what you believe
You float through time like a string
If the waters of time are made up by you and I
If you change the world for you, you change it for me

What you say is your religion
How you say it’s your religion
Who you love is your religion
How you love is your religion
All your science, your religion
All your hatred, your religion
All your wars are your religion
Every breath is your religion

Is this the world you want?
Is this the world you want?
You’re making it
Every day you’re alive
Is this the world you want?
Is this the world you want?
You’re making it
Every day you’re alive

You change the world
You change the world
You change my world
Every day you’re alive
You change my world
Honey, you change my world
You change my world

“Slipping Away”
When we’re coming home at 4 in the morning
Before the sun was up
Back in the East was a fire of gold
Just waiting for the rest of the sky to fall in love

Our hope is just a metaphor
A simple matter for all of our dreams tonight
And fear is just a shadow of
The things that matter the most
and I fear that I’m losing hope tonight

Oh oh
I feel like I’m dreaming
Oh oh
Staring up at the ceiling
Oh oh
It’s 4 in the morning
I can’t sleep and it feels like I’m running
Oh oh
Now would you believe me
If I can say it just the way that I’m feeling
Oh oh
The words that I wanted to say
I feel I’m slipping away

Remember that kid with a quivering lip
Who’s heart was on his sleeve like a first aid kit
Where are you now
Where are you now

Remember that kid didn’t know when to quit
I still lose my breath when I think about it
Oh where’d you go? (Oh where’d you go?)

Oh oh
I feel like I’m dreaming
Oh oh
Staring up at the ceiling
Oh oh
It’s 4 in the morning
I can’t sleep and it feels like I’m running
Oh oh
Now would you believe me
If I can say it just the way that I’m feeling
Oh oh
The words that I wanted to say
I feel I’m slipping away

I know this isn’t what you had wanted
Last word til it comes and we’re all in this now
And on and on and on and on

My heartbeat could tell you what time it is
I try to shout but the words don’t come out
I feel I’m slipping away

Oh oh
I feel like I’m dreaming
Oh oh
Staring up at the ceiling
Oh oh
It’s 4 in the morning
I can’t sleep and it feels like I’m running
Oh oh
Now would you believe me
If I can say it just the way that I’m feeling
Oh oh
The words that I wanted to say
I feel I’m slipping away

“BA55”
I want a fire that could burn me clean
Light the sky with my black-eyed dreams
And let my soul fly
And let my soul fly

I want a fire burning down the door
Let the wounds and my embers soar
And let my soul fly
And let my soul fly

Let it go
Yeah let it go

Pavement beneath my feet
I watch the white lines fly
Nothing between us here but the black blue sky
Suspended up here in the air, like a still life
Yeah, we’re suspended up into the air, like a still life
Let it go
Let it go

I believe you’re the fire that could burn me clean
I believe you’re the fire that could burn me clean

And let my soul fly
And let my soul fly

Pavement beneath my feet
I watch the white lines fly
I want a fire that could burn me clean
I want a fire that could burn me clean
And let it go

“Let It Out”
Keep keep keep keep pushing this higher (oh oh)
After living uptight, take it easy right now
Like a moth to the fire (oh oh)
Like I’m losing this fight, take it easy right now

From the day we’re born
We are scarred and torn
We’ve been scared to sing out loud
But we don’t care no more
‘Cause we know life is short
And we don’t care who hears us now
Breathe it in and let it out

Let it out (oh oh)
Let it out (oh oh)
Breathe it in and let it out (oh oh)
Let it out (oh oh)

Got me walking on a wire (oh oh)
Got me shaking at night, take it easy right now
When my soul gets tired (oh oh)
Feel like I’m losing that fight, take it easy right now

From the day we’re born
We are scarred and torn
We’ve been scared to sing out loud
But we don’t care no more
‘Cause we know life is short
And we don’t care who hears us now
Breathe it in and let it out

Let it out (oh oh)
Let it out (oh oh)
Breathe it in and let it out (oh oh)
Let it out (oh oh)
Yea, come on let it out

Are you holding on
Are you up against those ropes
‘Cause I know how it feels to lose hope
Are you holding in
Well come on, let it out
Take it easy
Take a breath and let it out
Take a breath and let it out

From the day we’re born
We are scarred and torn
We’ve been scared to sing out loud
But we don’t care no more
‘Cause we know life is short
And we don’t care who hears us now
Breathe it in and let it out

Let it out (oh oh)
Let it out (oh oh)
Yea, come on let it out
Let it out (oh oh)
Let it out (oh oh)
Breathe it in and let it out

“All Or Nothing At All”
I can’t say I didn’t see it coming
I pushed the pedal and we hit the wall
I can’t say I don’t want nothing
I want it all or nothing at all

I should’ve known, should’ve known better
I can’t say I didn’t see you fall
I wanna send all your love letters
I want it all or nothing at all

You feel your heart beat loudest when it’s breaking
You and I both know our fatal flaws
We both know that love is what you make it
I want you
All or nothing at all
All or nothing at all

There’s a fall right here running
The walls shake like a cannonball
Say right there if you love something (?)
Yea, but I’m sick of fighting it off
I can’t say that I don’t get it
I want it all or nothing at all

You feel your heart beat loudest when it’s breaking
You and I both know our fatal flaws
We both know that love is what you make it
I want you
All or nothing at all
All or nothing at all

All or nothing at all
All or nothing at all
We won’t stop til we get it right
All or nothing at all
We won’t stop til we get it right
Yea yea yea, and I know we ought to know better
We won’t stop til we get it right
I want it all or nothing at all

You feel your heart beat loudest when it’s breaking
You and I both know our fatal flaws
We both know that love is what you make it
I want you
All or nothing at all
All or nothing at all

All or nothing at all
All or nothing, all or nothing at all
All or nothing at all

“Saltwater Heart”
Talking with myself in the midnight (?)
Talking a cough drop tipping from my mouth like a love shot (?)
My writer’s block ink
Sick of all the small talk tipping non-stop
From the open mouth graze of the full heart (?)
So we got more, a blood clot pen (?)

Oh maybe I could break clean
Yea, maybe I could break clean

When I’m on your shore again
I can feel the ocean
I can feel your open arms
That pure emotion
I’m finally free again
Like my own explosion
When I’m on your shore again
I can feel the ocean

Saltwater running through my veins like a blind spot
Like I got caught, saltwater like your teardrop
With this saltwater heart
Now it’s an abstract thought but I’ve been thinking non-stop
Of the fact that my body’s made most out of raindrops
With this saltwater heart

Oh maybe I could wash clean
Yea maybe I could believe

When I’m on your shore again
I can feel the ocean
I can feel your open arms
That pure emotion
I’m finally free again
Like my own explosion
When I’m on your shore again
I can feel the ocean

Maybe I could wash clean
Yea maybe I could wash clean
On my land-locked dreams
Yea maybe I could believe

When I’m on your shore again
I can feel the ocean
I can feel your open arms
That pure emotion
I’m finally free again
Like my own explosion
When I’m on your shore again
I can feel the ocean

I can feel the ocean

“Back to the Beginning Again”
I can feel it building up inside
The images that play inside my mind
Dreams that I’ve been dreaming all my life
The colors that live outside of the lines

But dreams aren’t all I hide beneath this skin
The chord is cut, the fears and doubts begin
My hope is anchored on the other side
With the colors that live outside of the lines

And the oceans roar
And the wheels, they spin
And the old promises
Bring me back, bring me back to the beginning again

But the cold again at harbor stacks
With the weight of these machines across my back
I know a mountain road where time unwinds
But I’ve visited it in a single fall I had

And it all just sounds like poison on my ears
The background noise makes your voice so hard to hear
So I grit my teeth and straighten up my spine
I’m stuck in traffic on a dotted yellow line

And my heart is yours
And what a broken place it’s in
But you’re what I’m running for
And I want to feel the wind at my back again

Back to the beginning again
Back to the beginning again
I want to feel the wind at my back again
Back to the beginning again
Back to the beginning again
I want to feel the wind at my back again

And my heart is yours
And what a broken place it’s in
But you’re what I’m running for
And I want to feel the wind at my back again

Back to the beginning again
Back to the beginning again
I want to feel the wind at my back again
Back to the beginning again
Back to the beginning again
I want to feel the wind
I want to feel the wind
I want to feel the wind at my back again

Hear anything differently than me? I’d love to know about it – let me know in the comments!