Switchfoot Performs ‘This Is Home’ in Quarantine
Grammy Award-winning rock band, Switchfoot, covers ‘This Is Home‘ as part of their Live From Home series amidst COVID-19 lockdown.
[The song] was inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, but more specifically C.S. Lewis and his longing for home. And I played the music video for my daughter, thinking that it would win me points. And she burst into tears, saying “You met Aslan. No fair.”
Jon Foreman
‘This Is Home’ was originally recorded for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Soundtrack. The song was released as a single to radio in April of 2008 in promotion for the film’s release.
Discussion: Do you prefer Switchfoot’s ‘This is Home’ or Regina Spektor’s ‘The Call‘?
I love both “This is Home” and “The Call.” However, I love “This is Home” more because I started associating it more with “The Last Battle.” It reminds me of Jewel’s line: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here” and so by association it makes me think of Heaven.
The Call, beautiful
You’re right, it would be great for the Last Battle!
I feel slightly stupid for not knowing it was specifically written for PC lol
As for myself, I just looooove The Call. Maybe it’s because the movie edit of This is Home isn’t as good (in my opinion) as the normal version (which is the one he performs), but The Call seems to have more emotional beats (and it reminds me of Captain America so:)
Would you guys ever make a Narnian music review? Like the soundtracks of movie vs tv show, ranking the end credit songs, and stuff?
I enjoy This Is Home. Some of the lyrics are the kind of cheesy, like “we are miracles and we’re not alone.” But on the whole, the lyrics capture the themes of the book more than any other credits song in the Narnia movies IMO. Specifically, they remind me of Caspian finally finding the home for which he’s longer and where he belongs. Honestly it probably conveys this idea better than the actual movie does. (I’m not saying that because I’m bitter BTW. I’m actually a big fan of the Prince Caspian movie.)
I also enjoy The Call. At first, I didn’t like that it started while the movie was still going because I don’t feel that pop music goes well with Narnia. (And because the lyrics, “it started out as a feeling” juxtaposed with Susan and Caspian’s kiss, made it sound like the song was going to be about them. I actually thought for a second, we’d get a romantic flashback montage.) But the more I watch the movie, the better it fits the last scene. Regina Spektor must have worked with Harry Gregson Williams to make it blend into the last track of the score so well, which This Is Home, for example, wouldn’t have done if they’d used it as the first credits song.
I know some people don’t like using pop songs in the credits. I get that. If I were directing the movies, I wouldn’t bother with the extra expense for the slight chance of one of the songs being nominated for an award. But if they had to do it, I thought The Call and This Is Home were very nice songs. (I also really enjoy I Can’t Take It In from LWW and Wunderkind is a guilty pleasure for me.)
While I watch all of the credits for LWW and VDT, Prince Caspian is the only film in which I stop watching the credits after the first song, ‘The Call.’ I’m vaguely familiar with ‘A Dance ‘Round the Memory Tree’ but I’ve only heard ‘This Is Home’ maybe about three times and don’t even remember what it sounds like other than a typical contemporary Christian song, which makes sense since it is technically a Christian film, but it sounds too standard and blandly produced for Narnia, especially compared to the other songs. In terms of a song that’s about finding the place where you belong, ‘There’s a Place for Us’ is soooo much better and should have been nominated for an Oscar!
Also, why does he look like Steve Zissou?
‘A Dance ‘Round the Memory Tree’ is the only Narnia end-credits song I actually enjoy. Oren Lavie’s vocals and the sorrowful dreamy quality of the music fits the tone of the film, in my opinion.
This Switchfoot one’s okay, but it’s kind of standard fare, not much to make it distinct from other songs you’d find on the radio.
Dance Round the Memory Tree is… okay in my opinion. It’s a little slow and sad for my taste.
There’s a Place for Us is probably my second favorite, love Carrie Underwood and love the illustrations that go with the credits:)
I like ‘This Is Home’; I have lived in more than one place, and have left a piece of my heart in each, but there is one place, more than the rest, where I relax and feel safe, and which the view on returning gives a special feeling of “this IS home”.
I love The Call even more, and can apply it to any place I want to go back to one day. It also has associations of what I was doing in the year it was released.
That’s interesting that you find This Is Home not Narnian enough but really like There’s a Place for Us. That’s the one I find distractingly un-Narnian. I mean technically none of them sound Narnian to me. But most of the end credits songs for the first two movies were relatively soft and contemplative. Place for Us is so relatively loud and…Carrie Underwoody that it’s jarring after the last scene’s somber music. I think that probably reflects the different director for VDT. Andrew Adamson was better at having the first end credits song be the closest to the musical style of the film score.
As much as I love “The Call”, “This is Home” is where it’s at for me. Someone has already pointed out Jewel’s exclamation: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.” As a Christian who know that Heaven awaits, this has always resonated with me. As such, “This is Home” is practically a melodic interpretation of this, making it my favourite.
Amen!
“Carrie Underwoody” I get that, although to be fair, I don’t think you could hire Carrie and not want her to super-power sing 😛
But yeah having her sing a little softer, like she does in “Don’t Forget To Remember Me” or “Heartbeat”, could’ve worked well too
There’s a lot of things about the credits that reveal differences in director. Andrew Adamson only had songs in the credits while Michael Apted had one song and then score, along with the original illustrations from the book. I can’t say which one I like better since both styles seem to fit for their respective films.
Both great songs but the Call gets me emotionally every single time I hear it.
“…You’ll come back when it’s over
No need to say goodbye”
“This is Home” is my favorite of the songs, “The Call” is good, and so is “There’s a Place Out There for Us,” however, “This is Home” has the lyrics I can most relate to. My sister and I used to turn the song up louder every time it came on so we could sing with it and still hear it. Some of the Lyrics in “There’s a Place Out There for Us” are rather cheesy and I worry that her voice is too country-style to appeal to people. I’m Oklahoman, so I like Underwood’s voice and like the song better because of it.
Anyway, it’s nice that Switchfoot decided to pull out this song again.