Disclaimer: Like many great Switchfoot songs, Voices will likely mean different things to different listeners. This is just my interpretation of the song. I would love to hear about what the song means to you in the comments!

After my first few listens of Switchfoot’s 2019 album, Native Tongue, the song Voices quickly became one of my favorite tracks. I enjoyed the darker, angsty tone of Voices on what is otherwise a pretty positive and upbeat album.

As for the meaning of the titular “voices”, my initial thought this was a reference to those internal voices which are often a frequent theme in Switchfoot’s lyrics. Voices such as- pride, ego, doubt, fear, shame, greed and guilt. Those voices that hold us back from being the person we want to be. Those voices that remind us that we are fallen.

Taken at face value, this basic interpretation of the “voices” in Voices is certainly plausible and indeed, quite likely. However, the more I listened to the song, I began to wonder if there was not a deeper alternative meaning that was wrapped into the lyrics that was slowly starting to revealing itself. What if the “voices” represented some inescapable force that has infiltrated our lives in ways in both good and bad? What if the army of voices are social media?

The advent of social media gave everyone a voice.

Are you still with me?

Okay, good! So before we start to break down the lyrics to Voices, I need to give you a little background on something that I think weighs heavily on my interpretation of Voices.

In December of 2018, the Netflix Original movie Bird Box became a viral sensation. According to data released by Netflix, 45 million accounts viewed Bird Box on the Netflix streaming service. If somehow you have not seen it, Bird Box is basically a horror/suspense/thriller film about a monster. The only way to not succumb to the monster is to not look at it. This led to most of the protagonists wearing blindfolds or staying indoors with the windows covered.

45 million Netflix accounts streamed Bird Box. All of them knew how it ended in the first five minutes.

Ultimately, I got caught up in the media hype and watched the movie. I was largely unimpressed with Bird Box in general and especially disappointed with the ending.

A week or so after watching Bird Box, I came across this analysis on tech website Gizmodo. The author of the piece thoroughly makes the case that the unseen monster in Bird Box is in fact the monster that we all know as social media. Needless to say, my mind was blown! I still can’t say I like Bird Box, but the idea that there may have been a deeper meaning is very intriguing.

So that’s enough about Bird Box, but at least you know where I am coming from as we start take a deep dive into the lyrics of voices:

My words come out like an avalanche in silence

And you’ve got oceans trapped in your eyelids

They tell me that no man is an island

But it feels like it’s a storm that I’ve been fighting

My words flow out dangerously and in abundance, but without a sound because the people I’m communicating to are all on the other end of a screen on social media. I’m not just a target of the voices, I am one of them. I am engaged.

Your eyes are heavy and strained. You’ve been head down in your phone for hours.

They’ve told me I can’t be an “island”. I need to engage with social media. Everyone is using it. Friend, Follow, Like, Share, Comment, Subscribe! Become part of the network or you are missing out!

“No man is an island” is a reference to Devotions upon Emergent Occasions by 17th century metaphysical poet John Donne. It is used here to show how cultural pressures push us to join social networks

The phrase ‘no man is an island’ expresses the idea that human beings do badly when isolated from others and need to be part of a community in order to thrive. The Phrase Finder

But like a storm, social media is an overwhelming force in my life life. I try to fight it, but I can’t beat a storm. I can only hope to endure it.

And I used to listen to the radio

But I’ve got an army of voices in my head

And we used to live in stereo

But I’ve got an army of voices in my head

Voices in my head

I used to consume media passively, like listening to the radio. Radio is controllable. It was a one way relationship that I could tune out at anytime. It didn’t occupy my thoughts and demand my attention.

We used to live in stereo (together). There was a physical presence. We made time for each other. Now we’re living in mono (alone) and only connected digitally.

There is a dual meaning in the “army of voices in my head”:

First, there are all of the voices from information overload I have voluntarily subjected myself to. I can’t disconnect my brain. It occupies my thoughts. It distracts me from what is most important in life. I’ve seen both the best and worst of humanity though my social media interactions. The negative interactions haunt me.

Secondly, the voices are truly “in my head”. Social networks know what I like, what I don’t like, my wants and needs. I’ve been profiled based on my interactions on the network. Algorithms shape the content that I see to keep me engaged – selling me products, playing on my sympathies, enraging political passions. The social media networks may know more about me than my loved ones.

How come the friends and the foes invisible

Are the ones that made my soul most miserable?

Head’s reeling from the feeling

In my mind but I feel it in the physical

Both my friends and enemies that I engage with across social media antagonize my soul and break my spirit.

Foes are easy to understand. Foes are the trolls, the hate groups, the unscrupulous marketers and hostile foreign governments sewing dissent. Foes are the ugly, unavoidable side of social media.

Trolls are just one of the social media foes that make our souls miserable.

But why would my social media friends contribute to making my soul miserable? Research has shown self-comparison between ourselves and our social media friends contributes to diminishing our mental and physical wellbeing.

Self-comparison can be a strong influence on human behavior, and because people tend to display the most positive aspects of their lives on social media, it is possible for an individual to believe that their own life compares negatively to what they see presented by others. Harvard Business Review





Add self-comparison in with the constant fear of missing out (FOMO) and diminishing numbers of face-to-face interactions and you can begin to see how even your social media friends are taxing to your soul.

While the effects are social media are primarily psychological, it is affecting me physically. I’m tired, my body is stressed and tense.

Why’s the sunlight hiding?

Ain’t letting any light in

It’s a storm that I’ve been fighting

This social media storm has obscured the sunlight. I’m in a dark place mentally, still trying to futilely fight my way out.

Every moment crowded with choices

Speak to me and drown out the voices

I am overwhelmed in this place, but I know it is the world I live in now. The social media voices are not going away. Instead, I ask you Father to speak to me, guide me and help me find peace as I navigate this life. Let your voice be the one I hear above all others.

Just as the characters in Bird Box protected themselves from the monster by obscuring their vision, this final line of Voices asks for God’s help in protecting our souls from the negative impacts of social media.

There is no doubt that social media had changed the world we live in in many positive ways. It is a way to stay connected with loved ones across great distances, it helps the lost and lonely find a sense of community and purpose and it helps us learn about new and interesting people from around the globe by breaking down those geographic barriers.

Also undeniable however, are those potentially negative impacts social media has on our well-being: Reducing real world interaction, encouraging addictive behaviors, raising stress levels and contributing to anxiety and depression.

I believe Switchfoot’s Voices is about finding balance. About connecting with others on social media in a positive, constructive way, while seeking to block out the negative aspects and behaviors that can weigh heavy on your soul.

Please check out my full review of Switchfoot’s Native Tongue!