Album: The Beautiful Letdown
(Columbia/Sparrow Records)

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next?
What happens next?

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself
Lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before

(Song lyrics copyright of Switchfoot and writer and provided here for “song reflection” context)

The music is melodic and rock with enough of a contemporary, post-alternative vibe to grab youthful attention. The hook is large and inviting. It works well with the lyrical challenge to step out of your false self and be willing to get real…today, as if this has “never happened before”.

The opening lines state the obvious, but without being trite. This is always a good indication of well-written poetry. We can approach the beautiful mystery and recognize it is for all of us (Welcome to the planet/Welcome to existence/Everyone's here). Then the writer shifts us quickly from the “all” awareness to self-consciousness (Everybody's watching you now/Everybody waits for you now/What happens next?)

Indeed. Everyday we are faced with oncoming moments and our choice of reaction or response. The first requires no thinking. The second indicates pause. The stillness is the key. Before we launch into action, before we can begin to move, we must accept that this moment, and every moment after, is sacred.

The songwriter recognizes the inherent difficulty in all this. Who among us can have such great awareness more than rarely? Those who can, and live that way, possess a higher consciousness – as long as that consciousness arises from outside of self-centeredness.

There is tension in that moment before decision. Often there is resistance. To be responsible and accountable for our actions we must know where we’ve been, but not live there. We must move forward in freedom that comes from choice without blame. Getting up after being down and lifting ourselves from the floor after yet another failure is no easy feat.

If you find the courage to face your failures and a willingness to forgive and be forgiven you just might find redemption. Why do we think it is always a future event? Here and now is a powerful place to be.

The song challenges us. It challenges us to not run away. It challenges us not to give up or give in. Be who you are: genuine, alive and loved. Then move into action.