Faust, Midas, and Myself

Actually, this is probably the least self-explanitory song on the album, especially if you're not familiar with Faust. Jon describes this song as two myths and a truth. The myths being his parellels to Faust as in selling his soul to the devil and Midas touch that comes from that (All the gold references). Finally, the last verse shows the truth of the truth, that we should treat routine as the perfect joy. Also, that is where the line "one life left to leave" changes to "one life left to lead". It shows that instead of going to the lengths he did in the first verse to be happy, he should lead the life he has because that's God's will.

"One life left to leave" is a reminder that this life is short - you'll be leaving all the gold someday, so lead your life in a way that counts for something worth more than material things which won't matter when you die (or "leave").

Its the same idea as the lyric in "Awakening" where Jon sings "I wanna live like I know what I'm leaving" and in "Circles" where he completes it with "I've left all that I've wanted to leave". Its interesting how Jon scatters similar things throughout the album. Like for example, the idea of "spinning circles" is not just in "Circles" but also in LYLBS.

Something that also should be considered is that the song could be describing the temptations of fame that goes with being a rock star. Waking up next to the girl he's never seen, golden ships, etc. The intersection could be when the band reaches a certain amount of fame where they are making money and those things are available, do they follow that path or stay true to their Christian beliefs? In the end, he decides that just because he has the money and could live that kind of life, it wouldn't make him happy. That's another but not the only interpretation.

These are the clips on the website. I'm changing all these to the full songs when the CD comes out.

The full lyrics are on the site.

an amazing song, its all self explanatory

yeah i am familiar with the stories. but the lyrics on this site are actually wrong compared to the ones on the actual switchfoot site. its still "one life left to lead". but then again those lyrics mite be wrong too. so i dunno. i believe the song talks about what our life is and what it should be in a short explanation. but the song goes into alot depth compared to my little explanation. it still is pretty much self explanatory, to me, so dont get me wrong or anything.

If you turn your volume up loud enough you can hear him say leave and not lead the first few times. It actually fits better with the rest of the song than lead cause the devil is asking him to leave the life he has now. In the last verse, when he does actually say lead, it's because he realizes how great the life he has is.

Lyrically, the best song on the album. the point is blunt...

yeah it can be interpreted in a few ways. cuz Jon could hae also meant that he has one life left to leave, as in the old man and putting on the new man, born in Christ. so yeah i dont argue with the leave and lead part of the lyrics, i did listen to it again and you were right. haha thanks.