Where I Belong

Album: Vice Verses (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless - like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere." Ecclesiastes 2:11 (NLT).

    The above Bible verse finds Solomon summarizing all his accomplishments as "chasing after the wind." The Earth isn't our permanent home so everything the philosopher king achieved was but temporary and in the eternal scheme of things meaningless.

    Switchfoot base many of their songs on the Book of Ecclesiastes, and here Jon Foreman reflects on how he feels like a refugee as this world is not really his home. Guitarist Drew Shirley explained to New Release Tuesday: "There are so many things that are not right - broken - and we know in our heart and soul that it should be right, and should be true, and it's not in this world. Things should be just, and it's not in this world. This life should be joyful, and it's corrupted. It should be pure, and it's twisted. We have a twisted generation. That sense of unrest is something we've sung about for a long time. I think it's an Ecclesiastical thread where 'everything is meaningless.' What's this all about? There must be something more than this. We were meant to live for more than this. It stems from what is says in that Bible verse, that this world is not our permanent home."
  • Keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas told New Release Tuesday: "This song connects to that C.S. Lewis quote about how when there are things in this world that don't satisfy, it means you were meant for things after this world. In a way, as a band that's where we are. We're never quite comfortable, we never fit in. It's always been like that for us."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al YankovicFact or Fiction

Did Al play on a Beach Boys record? Did he have beef with George Lucas and Coolio? See if you can spot weird but true stories.

Michael Franti

Michael FrantiSongwriter Interviews

Franti tells the story behind his hit "Say Hey (I Love You)" and explains why yoga is an integral part of his lifestyle and his Soulshine tour.

Jack Tempchin - "Peaceful Easy Feeling"

Jack Tempchin - "Peaceful Easy Feeling"They're Playing My Song

When a waitress wouldn't take him home, Jack wrote what would become one of the Eagles most enduring hits.

Have Mercy! It's Wolfman Jack

Have Mercy! It's Wolfman JackSong Writing

The story of the legendary lupine DJ through the songs he inspired.

Butch Vig

Butch VigSongwriter Interviews

The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.