When We Come Alive

Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman explained the song's meaning during a Spotify track-by-track: "For me, this is a song that speaks to the idea that a lot of times we go through life halfway, living halfway lives," he said. "And yet, there's a spark that can grow into a fire, that the song is speaking to… that we are fire when we come alive, burning brightly. The idea that all it takes is a spark to light that thing up."

Jon wrote the song with his brother Tim Foreman, who plays bass in the band, and guitarist Drew Shirley. The vocalist recalled on Land Of Broken Hearts: "Tim and I wrote the chorus with our friend Drew up at his place. We listened back a few days later and knew that we had a good concept, but the verse wasn't quite right. We wrote several more verse ideas, but none of them were quite right. Then Tim had the idea of stealing a verse that we had written a few months ago from a song that wasn't on our list for the record. It was a perfect fit."