thrive

I’ve not stopped listening to Switchfoot’s new set, Vice Verses since the album was released this past Tuesday. The sheer honesty and reflection from one particular song, Thrive, falls in line with a chapter I just finished from my upcoming novel, The Wedding and Disaster of Felona Mabel.

No, I’m not alright
I know that I’m not right
A steering wheel doesn’t mean you can drive
A warm body doesn’t mean I’m alive

No, I’m not alright
I know that I’m not right
Feel like I travel but I never arrive
I wanna thrive not just survive.

Here’s Jon Foreman, the front man, singing an acoustic version at SoulFest 2010. Lyrics follow the video.

Been fighting things that I can’t see
Like voices coming from the inside of me
Like doing things I find hard to believe in
Am I myself or am I dreaming?

I’ve been awake for an hour or so
Checking for a pulse but I just don’t know
Am I a man if I feel like a ghost?
The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes

No, I’m not alright
I know that I’m not right
A steering wheel doesn’t mean you can drive
A warm body doesn’t mean I’m alive

No, I’m not alright
I know that I’m not right
Feel like I travel but I never arrive
I wanna thrive not just survive

I come alive when I hear you singing
But lately I haven’t been hearing a thing
I get the feeling that I’m in between
A machine and a man who only looks like me

I try and hide it and not let it show
But deep down inside me I just don’t know
Am I a man if I feel like a hoax?
The stranger in the mirror’s been wearing my clothes

No, I’m not alright
I know that I’m not right
A steering wheel doesn’t mean you can drive
A warm body doesn’t mean I’m alive

No, I’m not alright
I know that I’m not right
Feel like I travel but I never arrive
I wanna thrive not just survive

I get so down, but I won’t give up
I get so down, but I won’t give up
I get so down, but I won;t give up

Been fighting things that I can’t see
Been fighting things that I can’t see
A machine or a man who only looks like me

Thrive, thrive, thrive, yeaah, thrive

No, I’m not alright
I know that I’m not right
A steering wheel doesn’t mean you can drive
A warm body doesn’t mean I’m alive

No, I’m not alright
I know that I’m not right
Feel like I travel but I never arrive
I wanna thrive not just survive

(lyrics and music are copyright Switchfoot)