Monday, May 11, 2009

Jon Foreman is going to fast for Darfur

Twitter: May 11, 2009

- jon is preparing to fast for Darfur - http://fastdarfur.org/?cat=39



Here's the blurb that was posted on that website, as well as a video of Jon Foreman talking about his commitment to the fast.

Jon Foreman is the front-man for multi-platinum selling rock band Switchfoot. Over the course of the last ten years Switchfoot has developed a reputation as an amazing live experience with songs that transcend the boundaries of simple rock and roll. Foreman describes his songs as, “music for thinking people” a heading that seems to include activism of all kinds as well. Over the years Jon Foreman and Switchfoot have used their voice to support many worthy causes: International Justice Mission, Habitat for Humanity, The Surfrider Foundation, Invisible Children, TWLOHA and numerous local charities. The music and the activism collide every summer at the Switchfoot Bro-Am: a surf contest/ concert that the band throws support struggling teens in the area. In addition to the numerous solo projects and side projects that Jon has put out over the last few months, a new Switchfoot CD titled “Hello Hurricane” is slated for late summer.


Jon Foreman - Switchfoot - Darfur Fast for Life from fastdarfur on Vimeo.



^what a great guy. The guy never stops working hard for activism and social justice. If you can, I would urge you to consider joining this fast. This is an important, serious issue. Oh, and spread the word.

----------

Jon Foreman posted his first blog about Darfur on Jon Foreman:

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Darfur Fast blog #1, under the same sun

I arrived home in San Diego early this morning, back from a run of shows up the coast with Switchfoot. The sun is setting over the pacific and my hair is still wet from an evening surf. In the distance I can hear the whistle of the Amtrak from LA heading south. I'm grateful to be home, grateful to have a place to live, grateful to have been given another breath alive on this planet.


But today my thoughts are divided, split between two worlds. As the sun sets over California it begins to rise over Darfur. The same sun. The same planet. Can it be possible that right now, two and a half million people are waking up in camps and refugee camps having been driven from their homes by violent means? Under the same sun, could it be true that almost half a million people have died of starvation, violence, and disease over the past six years in Darfur? Is this true?!


And if this is true, why has the media remained almost completely silent on the issue? Why has our government maintained it's current stance of inaction?


When presidential hopeful Obama was running for office he stated that "We can't ignore the genocide in Darfur. The international community can't turn a blind eye when children are being slaughtered and women are being raped. We have to do everything in our power to make it stop. We have to act. Now."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjSy_-yet9w&feature=player_embedded


Nothing has happened.


And yet the sun is still rising over Darfur. And the sun still rises over me. And the sun still rises over capital hill... the same sun.


Today we celebrate mother's day with our moms and grandmothers. My thoughts drift overseas to the mother who is just now waking up, wondering whether she'll be able to give her children anything to eat.


Tomorrow I begin a three day fast for Darfur. Why fast? Because quite frankly, I can't think of a better idea. I reckon the best way to enter into the suffering of a group of people halfway around the world is to start with the basics. These folks are fasting without alternative, for three days I will fast with them.


http://fastdarfur.org/?cat=39

----------

A guy by the name of Rawkerdood92 on the official Switchfoot boards got a recording of the "Hello Hurricane" preview and is currently mixing out the audience sound. Once that is done, he's sending it over to our friends at LOBH. We'll have that for you as soon as they do. Stay tuned. Can you believe it? We're actually going to be hearing parts of "Hello Hurricane."

Here's Rawkerdood92's stab at the lyrics, tempo, and key of the song:

Verse 1:
I've been watching blue skies
they've been turnin' blood red.
not a doubt in my mind anymore.
there's a storm up ahead.

Chorus:

Hello Hurricane.
You're not enough,
Hello Hurricane.
You can't silence my love.
I've got doors and windows boarded up,
All your dead fury is not enough,
you can't silence my love.

verse 2:
everything I have becomes lost
everything I have is stripped away
before I thought it ______
I've counted up these costs
there's nothing left for you to take away

(chorus)
(cut)

tempo-approx. 166

key-g



INCREDIBLE. Stay tuned friends.

----------

Some more live videos from the Spring Celebration show in Santa Clara:

On Fire



On Fire/Awakening



This Is Your Life



Meant to Live

No comments: