Music To Write By: Switchfoot's "The War Inside"

Why Listen? For vivid imagery; a noirish take on human nature; to see how artists succeed while doing something different.



San Diego-based Switchfoot has built a career by serving fans slick Top 40 hits and gritty rock anthems, so “The War Inside” off of Vice Verses must have come as something of a surprise to many. Leader singer Jon Foreman’s personally conflicted, stream-of-consciousness lyrics ride staccato rhythms and synthy harmonics. (“I am the rising tide. / I am the war I fight. / Eyes open, open wide, / I can feel it like a crack in my spine. / I can feel it like the back of my mind. / I am the war inside.”) The song sounds like something a battered and bruised Phil Collins might’ve written after waking up the morning after in a bar’s back alley. Perfect background music for that hardboiled or noir piece you’ve been wanting to write.