What does Over My Head (Cable Car) mean?

The Fray: Over My Head (Cable Car) Meaning

Album cover for Over My Head (Cable Car) album cover

Song Released: 2006


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Over My Head (Cable Car) Lyrics

I never knew
I never knew that everything was falling through.
That everyone I knew was waiting on a cue
To turn and run when all I needed was the truth
But that's how it's got to be
It's coming down to nothing more than apathy
I'd rather...

  1. anonymous
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    Sep 13th 2007 !⃝

    My interpretation is like it was a teenager in high school. At first he thinks he know whats going on, but then he find out the truth. He stars to do worse in school and finds out that his friends were mostly friends with him because of his grades. They leave because he can't help them anymore. Then he turns to think about the other important thing to him, a good friend whos a girl. Everyone knows that he has a crush on her. He likes her and thinks about her. Then he wishes he could meet new friends and sees his old friends with someone else smart. Then he finds out from the girl's friend that the girl he likes only thinks of him as a friend. Nothing seems to go right for him. He decides to give up on his old friends (torch it ourselves). in one word, he has to letitgo.

    By the way, the thing with the girl; got that from a recent experience. today. me.

    Kyros/Smashbro

  2. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 21st 2007 !⃝

    Lets see... Well, the song starts: I
    never knew
    I never knew that everything was falling through
    That everyone I knew was waiting on a queue
    To turn and run when all I needed was the truth
    But that's how it's got to be
    It's coming down to nothing more than apathy
    I'd rather run the other way than stay and see
    The smoke and who's still standing when it clears

    I think it's about pretenses. You think that something's real and then suddenly finding out that it's all a lie. And you're waiting to see who was really there, when [the smoke clears].

    And then the chorus pretty much speaks for itself. She was a lie as well, and he's so confused and just can't get anything straight, and there's not much time left to figure anything out, but he still loves her.

    Let's rearrange
    I wish you were a stranger I could disengage
    Just say that we agree and then never change
    Soften a bit until we all just get along
    But that's disregard
    Find another friend and you discard
    As you lose the argument in a cable car
    Hanging above as the canyon comes between

    I wish I could just leave, because wouldn't it be easier if we were strangers? He says. The next few lines (soften a bit... Till find another friend) say that said girl has found another person, and he's lost, and a canyon comes between is symbolic, I think, for him meaning that they've distanced themselves so much that it's over.

    And suddenly I become a part of your past
    I'm becoming the part that don't last
    I'm losing you and its effortless
    Without a sound we lose sight of the ground
    In the throw around
    Never thought that you wanted to bring it down
    I won't let it go down till we torch it ourselves

    This is my favorite verse. It speaks for it's self. He sees that it's over, and he can't do anything about it. Without any other discussions they lose sight of the ground that they had made. The rest speaks for itself. He never thought that her affections could be pretenses, never thought she'd do this. But he won't let it go until he finds out what truly happened.

    This is what I thought of the song, but knowing Isaac, it'll be something completely different! It's an amazing song, lyrics and all. I congratulate the Fray on another amazing song, that they managed to pull off with great meaning, but making it still fun to listen to!

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 21st 2007 !⃝

    I know this isn't really what the song means, but I feel a strong feeling towards this reasoning. The singer is developing a relationship with an incredible girl, which he couldn't be happier about. However, as the relationship develops, he finds having a girl in his life is making the rest of life feel sort of out of focus and confusing. So while trying to deal with the rest of life, he's also trying to figure out how this girl fits in. He feels like he's doing to much at once and is in over his head, hence the title of the song. The line about rearranging feels like he wishes that life could be sort of flipped around so that everything fit right with the girl and the rest of life. Being a basketball player, the overtime line feels like he's rushing through the adrenaline of an intense game, but instead he's thinking about her. Like I said, this reasoning doesn't fit with all of the lyrics, but it is just what comes to my mind while listening to this awesome song.

  4. anonymous
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    Jun 18th 2007 !⃝

    I think that this song is very moving as the way I interpret the lyrics is based on my life, I think that it is about a love that has gone wrong and he can't accept it and he can't move on and he has the empty dull feeling you get even though you no that there is no hope of things going back to what they were previously like.

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 1st 2007 !⃝

    You can think of a song however you want. Its up to you to decide what the meaning is. I like to think of this song as not about Isaac....but about a very beautiful girl. He is slowly gathering up confidence to ask her out. All his friends are saying he's over his head and shell never say yes. Also he is very nervous because of all the times he has had his heart broken in the past. After he gathers up the confidence he starts to have a little trouble. But he will push through. "Shes on your mind she's on your mind"
    Every where he goes there she is...thats why he wishes she was a "stranger he could disengage".
    It is a song saying no matter what your friends say its up to you and only you to decide who and who you don't love,like,or hate.

    Just the way I look at it :D

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 8th 2007 !⃝

    The song is about a past relationship that has spiralled out of control and he is left in over his head.

    The situation that he found himself in was unexpected. "I never knew, I never knew that everything was falling through".

    It seems that everything has been going on around him but he was too busy being happy to realise. After all, ignorance is bliss.

    After realising that everything had ended, he finds himself alone in the situation, confused. Everyone he turns to to ask for help "was waiting on a queue to turn and run".


    "It's coming down to nothing more than apathy".
    Maybe this means that everyone around him is showing indifference to his situation, it is only him who cares.
    He is however, also afraid of understanding what has happened,
    "I'd rather run the other way than stay and see The smoke and who's still standing when it clears"
    The person who's still standing being the person who will tell him all the answers.

    This is how he is in over his head, he's completely lost and confused and doesn't know how to deal with the situation.

    Overtime is a time that you are given to use constructively. Therefore, if during the 8 second overtime all you can do is think of a girl, it just shows the extent of your feelings for that girl.

    "I wish you were a stranger I could disengage
    "Just say that we agree and then never change"
    These are easy ways out of the situation. However he then states that this would show disregard. He's in over his head with something he's passionate about (his relationship??) and it would be disrespectful to take the easy way out.

    He is not in control though, and soon "I'm losing you and its effortless". He is helpless and against his wishes he is fading out of this girls life.

    so basically, this guy is in a relationship with a girl he really falls for. He believes everything is going well when it is suddenly taken away from him. He doesn't want to believe it, is confused and can't get answers because no one seems to care. He doesn't just want it to end without trying to work it out because that would jus be disrespectful. However, there isn't anything he can do and very soon he becomes part of this girls past. And all the time it seems that the girl is indifferent to the whole situation.

  7. anonymous
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    May 1st 2007 !⃝

    I think that this song means that he finally finds a girl that he likes but he is not shure that she is so in to him. So he starts to chasing her and wants to be with her but he is over his head and every one is telling him.And that everyone nows he's always thinking about her. And he finally finds that everyone is waiting on him or is waiting for her too.

  8. anonymous
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    Apr 28th 2007 !⃝

    I think this song is about a guys friend/girlfriend got stuck in a fire and nobody will tell him what was going on. and he also wants to know who survived but everyone looked like they were just standing there in shock."I never knew
    I never knew that everything was falling through
    That everyone I knew was waiting on a queue
    To turn and run when all I needed was the truth
    But that's how it's got to be
    It's coming down to nothing more than apathy
    I'd rather run the other way than stay and see
    The smoke and who's still standing when it clears"

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  9. lizard
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    Apr 22nd 2007 !⃝

    I don't actually want to write an interpretation, but I want to say that this song makes me cry. Not crying in the meaning of actual tears, but inside, it makes me feel like there's a brick in my stomach. Some people ask whether that's a good thing but it also makes me feel alive, sunny and bright. So.. I guess it's such a great song because it can make you feel so many things.

  10. anonymous
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    Apr 19th 2007 !⃝

    It's pretty much about the singer, Isaac, and his little sister, Betty Sue, and their inability to cope with their parents divorce

  11. anonymous
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    Mar 20th 2007 !⃝

    guy loves girl with all his heart, he's hooked on sports, but all he can think of is her, and all times.
    then for reasons he doesn't understand, or simply no reason at all, she ends it, and he can't understand, and so he won't let it go until they're both broken into little pieces.
    then he's looking back and he's wishing his friends had warned him, and then wishing that him and this girl had never met each other, never got so close, so that it wouldn't hurt, so that they could stop arguing(cus they always do) and agree on something for once.
    ....this is my story, I was that girl, and I'm so sorry
    x x x x

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  12. anonymous
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    Mar 4th 2007 !⃝

    I think it's about a girl he likes but, she doesn't like him and since he knows that she does not like him he is really mad and frustrated.

  13. brielle
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    Feb 24th 2007 !⃝

    The leader of the band got into a fight with his brother who they called Cable Car, and that's where they got the title. The song didn't make things better, it actually made matters worse.

    and I read that so I know its right! : )

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 19th 2007 !⃝

    For Me it totally sounds like a fight between two people who are naturaly close to each other (Faamily) Or forced (Like A Step Brother) This is clearly demonstrated in the second verse:
    Let's Rearange=Let's look at The fight differently
    I wish you where a stranger I could disengage= I wish I didn't know you so I could stop having to deal with you


    I

  15. anonymous
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    Jan 5th 2007 !⃝

    I think the song is about a person who's got way too much going on and has no idea what he is doing. He has too much work and stress and he wants the truth if he should continue.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway



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