Switchfoot "Dare You to Move"

Music Video with a Subtle Christian Theme

Tribute Video with an Obvious Christian Theme
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/switchfoot/dareyoutomove.html

            "Dare You to Move" is a single by the alternative band Switchfoot in their album, The Beautiful Letdown, in 2003. In actuality, this song is a remix of another song they composed called "I Dare You to Move" from the album, Learning to Breathe, which they composed three years prior to this remix. Although this track was fifth in the Letdown album, it was a long-lasting hit that reached its height by being certified gold in 2005. While being an alternative rock band, many have defined Switchfoot as a Christian band when listening to there music as they create a lot of symbolism regarding the Christian faith. However, they have disapproved this and said that they are "Christian by faith, not genre." In this song, they don't specifically use the Christian faith but offer many ideas that mirror the Christian faith.

          Being a Buddhist, I don't have any of the ideals that have been passed down through the Christian faith. However, I've listened to this song and can tell that it doesn't involve the faith as much as some of their other songs, but it uses some of the ideals presented.

          While the argument within this song is simple and not very hard to analyze, it's argument is how to look past the mistakes and criticisms and continue moving forward in life. In lines 4-8, the lyrics say that people are waiting for you to make some sort of move so they could criticize or praise you. The pressure you feel when trying to please them reach its highest as time goes on. In lines 16-17, the fallout and resistance described in this song shows how we've been pushed past our limits and reach the point of wanting to break away from the path others are telling you to pursue. It could also be treated as our first mistake as we see our limitations and deny that we cannot push anymore and misunderstand it as us reaching the end of our training and finding new limitations to overcome when in actuality, we've been pushed too far and ran away from our problems. In lines 18-21, the tension this song is describing is the struggle of what you should be and your place in the world. It also tells of how you could change who you are and how it could change the future because you don't like who you see yourself as right now. In the fourth stanza, the song gives the easiest interpretation by stating we all make mistakes and that we should look past them as they are a part of life. Salvation can be seen as any place where you feel the most vulnerable and are willing to examine your mistakes and learn how to better yourself in the future.

         While the band members stated that this song was powerful enough to push themselves forward in their own lives, this song also has the power to help people trying to move from their stagnant position in life. As said in the name of this song, we need to push past our mistakes and have the strength to live with what has happened and learn from our past.

                                                                                                         -Nikki "Nikolas" Pham