Saltwater Heart by Switchfoot

Album: Fading West (2014)

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

Drummer Chad Butler explained during a Spotify track-by-track: "'Saltwater Heart' came together in the magical island of Bali. We were traveling the world, chasing waves and songs and this song came together on the cliff overlooking the Indian ocean. It was inspired by the surroundings. This song is a reflection of that feeling of being on the edge of the earth."
Switchfoot vocalist Jon Foreman explained the song's meaning during a track-by-track on the Land Of Broken Hearts website: "'Saltwater' is a song about longing. On tour, I often feel brittle and thirsty for substance," he said. "Far from shore, far from home- the ink dries up, and the blood begins to clot. I begin to feel like a sojourner longing for home, wanting to be washed clean of the dust of travel. And yet there is a deeper longing. A spiritual longing that no physical location can give me- not even my hometown. 'Saltwater' is a song that is trying to speak to both of these longings at once: longings of my physical being and the longings of my soul."

Comments: 1

Ashley from UsaI've stood on that same cliff that Jon and the other stood on--physically and figuratively. I've wanted to be home, to have somewhere to even *call* home. Something about Bali makes you feel both far, far away from your usual routine & reality, and at the same time at home with the great conglomeration of other cultures and tourists from countries you've never heard of. The traditional Balinese instruments in the song bring me back to those days when I'd spend the whole day in the ocean, and I believe that I'll find where I belong someday.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)Will Glahe

In 1939, a polka craze swept America thanks to "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)."

BloodstreamEd Sheeran

Ed Sheeran's "Bloodstream" was written after an experience taking MDMA during a wedding celebration in Ibiza; it's basically about all the feelings that he got from that time.

"Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who is about a revolution, but it doesn't have a happy ending, since in the end the new regime becomes just like the old one. Pete Townshend thought that whoever was in power was destined to become corrupt.

Good TimesChic

The disco song "Good Tmes" by Chic was a huge influence on early rap, providing the bassline for "Rapper's Delight."

Dancing QueenABBA

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson conceived "Dancing Queen" as a dance song with the working title "Boogaloo," drawing inspiration from the 1974 George McCrae disco hit "Rock Your Baby." Their manager Stig Anderson came up with the title "Dancing Queen."

Uptown FunkMark Ronson

The actress Michelle Pfeiffer gets namechecked in the 2014 megahit "Uptown Funk" ("Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold"). When it was released, "Riptide" by Vance Joy was on the charts; that song also mentions her ("Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen").