Thousand Foot Krutch – Down

Canadian Christian hard rock band Thousand Foot Crutch (TFK) has been around since 1995.  Lead by frontman Trevor McNevanand originally known as Oddball, they released ten mainline albums and two live albums, including:

• Shutterbug (1995)
• That’s What People Do (1997)
• Set It Off (2000)
• Phenomenon (2003)
• The Art of Breaking (2005)
• The Flame in All of Us (2007)
• Welcome to the Masquerade (2009)
• Live at the Masquerade (2011) [Live]
• The End Is Where We Begin (2012)
• Oxygen: Inhale (2014)
• Exhale (2016)
• Untraveled Roads (2017) [Live]

They won seven GMA Canada Covenant Awards and one Shai Award, including Artist of the Year (2005), Rock Album of the Year (2010), and Hard Music Song of the Year (Bring Me To Live, 2010).

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Thousand-foot-krutch-down-lyrics.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

TFK has experienced many critics over the years.  The critics tried to say that “you’ll never make it”, “you won’t succeed doing hard rock”,  “you’ll never make a difference”.  Yet, TFK chose to ignore them, succeeding in spite of their onslaughts, and rubs it in their face, the opposite of showing love.  They use various pop culture references to flesh out their lyrics that carry the same theme.  TFK’s audience can do the same if they follow TFK’s example, that is, to learn to ignore the Debbie downer’s and boast about it once they’ve made it.

Score: 4/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

Most of it is contrary to Scripture, with the exception of ignoring foolish critics.

[Intro]

Lines 1 and 2: TFK’s critics fail to take responsibility for their own actions and TFK won’t entertain their foolishness (Proverbs 26:4-5).

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1 and 2: TFK accuses their critics as amateurs, compared to a freshman in high school/college.  This is contrary to humbly regarding others as better (Philippians 2:3).

Lines 3 and 4: References Queen’s Under Pressure.  TFK overcomes their obstacles while again insulting their critics, claiming that they are lazy.

Line 5: In much the same way as loose change leaves one’s pocket into the dresser drawer, TFK has removed themselves from the onslaught of their critics.  See commentary in Intro.

Lines 6 and 7: TFK’s volumic sound level is loud enough to wake the dead!

Lines 8 and 9: TFK’s critics are about to experience how TFK connects with their audience.

[Pre-Chorus]

Lines 1-4: TFK has been bombarded with critiques that they will never make it, that they will never make a difference, that others have tried and failed, but TFK uses them as fuel to overcome.  It is an “I’ll show YOU!” attitude, with the intent to prove them wrong.  Rather than taking their own revenge, they should save room for God’s wrath (Romans 12:19) and show them their error with gentleness and respect so that they could be ashamed through TFK’s good behavior (1 Peter 3:15-17).

[Chorus]

Lines 1-5: See commentary in Pre-Chorus.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-3: TFK’s influence has grown, much like rust grows on metal or a gush of blood comes out of a broken nose.  They want everyone to know about it, exhibiting behavior contrary to Proverbs 27:2.

Lines 4-7: TFK has a desire to write music, go on tour, and work hard to succeed, evidenced by their history.  They were born to win, as though it were handed to them on a silver platter.  This is more boasting.

Lines 8-10: TFK used to have a “glass is half-empty” attitude, never looking past their own failures and negatively affecting the people around them.  TFK was right to leave behind this Eeyore-like state of mind.

Lines 11-13: Much like Peter Parker was given a talent and chose to wield it, so too is TFK using their abilities to influence others.

[Bridge]

Lines 1 and 2: Do you want to become successful? Follow TFK’s example, mere human beings (1 Corinthians 3:4), as opposed to following Jesus (John 15:1-10, 1 Corinthians 11:1-2, 1 Peter 2:21, and 1 John 2:3-6).

Lines 3-6: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

Line 7: That is, a call to experience TFK’s influence, as opposed to the Bible’s influence.

Lines 8 and 9: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

Lines 10 and 11: Repeats line 7.

Score: 3/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will have no trouble understanding its message.  After all, worldly people have become successful and snub it onto others, much to TFK’s chagrin.  It will not help them draw closer to Jesus.

Score: 3/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies TFK.

Score: 0/10

Closing Comments

Thousand Foot Krutch’s Down is unfortunate.  Though I applaud them for overcoming the foolish critiques of negative nancy, their boasting is neither helpful nor biblical.  We should follow the influence and direction of Jesus, not TFK as presented in this song.

I cannot recommend this for corporate worship.

Final Score: 2.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Down (listen to the song)

Artist: Thousand Foot Krutch

Album: The End Is Where We Begin

Genre: Hard Rock

Release Year: 2012

Duration: 3:27

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Updates:

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.