What do you think Over My Head (Cable Car) means?

The Fray: Over My Head (Cable Car) Meaning

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

Song Released: 2006


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. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jan 23rd 2007 !⃝

    ive read on a few sites, and officially, that this song is about issac and his brother. (read above)
    but to me, and this is where people might disagree, music has it's own interpretations for everyone.
    to me, this song is about a guy, or a girl, who can't let go of their past relationship. They shared something really meaningful, exchanged many mutual feelings and in the end, it broke. one is left standing there, dazed out and sorrowful, while the other doesn't look back. doesn't acknowledge them anymore. She finds new people, see's new people and he's tried. He really has. but he can't let go, he can't get her out of his head.
    he feels as if she is his world, and he's just another guy in the huge crowd out there. He doesn't know what to do, and is sick of the pain. The pain of being forgotton, and led astray. Then every now and again, she wants his attention. builds him up, and gives him hope. but she's just doing it for herself, and doesn't care for him.
    ...i love this song.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jul 23rd 2006 !⃝

    Isaac slade [the lead vocalist/pianist] wrote the song about a huge fight he had with his brother caleb (who's nickname is 'cable car'). Isaac has mentioned on occasion that this fight had something to do with isaac asking caleb [the first bassist] to leave the band for its best interests. The fight was so harsh that either they had to agree to disagree or stop talking to each other forever. Because the two brothers are so close they opted to agree to disagree. Isaac has said that sometimes while singing "over my head (cable car)" it feels like the old wounds are being opened and the fight is still fresh

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    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
    Just say that we agree= Just pretend to get along
    And I'll never change= So I don't have to try hard
    Soffen A bit until we all just get along= I'll be nicer so we can just get along
    That's disregard= But that's not the way to get rid of you
    You found another freind and you discard= I wish you would find someone else and leave me alone
    As I lose the argument in a cable car Haning Above= I I lose a fight that was hanging around for ever
    As the canyon comes between= As the anger and fightaing deepens.
    But that's just me.



    I

  4. anonymous
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    Aug 11th 2021 !⃝

    To me, this song is about is about a girl and a guys relationship. Everything started out really great and they loved each other a lot. But, the girl slowly started to loose feelings. She didn’t realize it at first but when she finally does see what she’s feeling isn’t genuine she recognizes she’s in way over her head. However, she still cares about the guy and doesn’t know how to end things. "I wish you were a stranger I could disengage" - She wishes she didn’t have so much history with the guy and could just end things easily. "Just say that we agree and never change" this to me sounds like she almost wishes she never lost feelings in the first place and that things could go back to how they were. This is a heartbreakingly beautiful song.

  5. anonymous
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    Jan 6th 2020 !⃝

    I don't know.. but I was very in love and so was he with me, I thought. He bought me a ring, he never gave it to me before he broke up with me, we had plans for that.. He played this song on his MySpace when that was a thing..after he broke up with me.

    None of his family wanted us together. We were enraptured with each other from day one. However, several people were interfering and I had a child and a past and his parents did not like that. He came to me crying, trembling and telling me he would never love anyone again like me and stay alone. He would see me and ignore me, walk away if he saw me, never talked to me again. However, he got engaged a year later and married soon after that.

    So, this song was a message to me.

  6. anonymous
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    Sep 28th 2018 !⃝

    This song hits close to home for me because when i get involved in something I get in way over my head and people who know me hate that part of me and sometimes that part of me gets me in truoble and I hate that I have such a kind heart because people can use me easily.

  7. anonymous
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    May 23rd 2018 !⃝

    I've always thought this song was about a guy who was in a relationship with a girl and they broke up, but he can't stop thinking about her or about a guy who's always fantasizing about his crush on a girl. People are saying the singer said this is about him and his brother, but the lyrics doesn't match up with that. What does "She's on your mind." mean, then?

  8. anonymous
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    Feb 12th 2013 !⃝

    To me, this song is about a group of friends slipping away from the singer. They are all drifting farther from him and won't tell him what they think of him. The "in over my head" part is because his friends think he is going through life making reckless decisions and not thinking through them, therefore choosing to desert him.

  9. anonymous
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    Nov 15th 2012 !⃝

    I can relate to this song because it has a sense of longing to it. It reminds me of my ex boyfriend who i still love dearly(we both loved this song). But he doesn't acknowledge the fact that i do. To me this song means that there is an empty feeling left and he is sad and kind of mournful. He feels like everything is moving fast around him and he can't catch up. He feels discarded and abandoned " find another friend and you discard.." he feels like he is losing her and can not do anything about it. While she is off doing her own thing he is too busy thinking about her. I feel for him in a way. ( hope this helps)
    -c

  10. anonymous
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    Jun 21st 2012 !⃝

    I think the first few verses are saying he wish he would of had the advice hes about to give, given to him. and then its saying he wish he didnt have to put up with people having their hearts broken.

    I think the main part is saying everyone knows Im bad with love, but trust me, you have like eight second to confess your love to that girl, I know she's on your mind.

    I think the next few verses are saying he wishes he didnt have to help the friend or relative, and then it talks about how he should because thats what friens or relatives are for. And then it talks more about the main topic.

    Then in the next few verses its saying how his relationship ended and how he wish he could of saved it. And how he wont forget about it until they talk about it because he still wonders why someone broke up with him.

    I think this is the meaning.

  11. anonymous
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    Jun 21st 2012 !⃝

    I think It is about a fight with siblings who are the same gender. I think their getting in a disagreement about what one of them should to about a girl or boy they like. I think hes saying: " I know every one thinks Im bad at love, but trust me, you have like eight seconds to go to her/him and say your love." And he doesnt want to have to help, but he knows he should, so hes saying he wish he didnt have to put up with his problems.

  12. anonymous
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    Feb 23rd 2012 !⃝

    I think this song is about a complicated relationship between a parent and a child. For my example, I'm going to use a mother and a daughter. The mother and the daughter are so alike, such perfectionists in their attitudes and approaches. They break off more than they can chew, they take up too many obligations, and struggle to fulfill them. Their relationship deteriorates and they seem to be drifting more and more apart. The daughter is progressing through adolescence and the mother is growing older. They take advantage of each other and never want to address the real problem. "Everyone knows I'm in over my head" Everyone knows that the daughter is taking on too much and it's slowing consuming her. At the same time, the mother's health is steadily decreasing. The daughter can't bear to look at her mother because she is a mirror-image to herself or what she will become. They push aside their problems and soon they come back to bite. The mother passes suddenly. The daughter is shocked and remains shocked for a long period of time. She takes on more tasks and starts taking up characteristics of her mother. She starts showing warning signs of deterioration. "She's on your mind" But her mother always remains on her mind, sometimes haunting her.

  13. anonymous
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    Aug 14th 2011 !⃝

    To me it's about 2 bestfriends who have a huge fight and they still want to be friends but it's too dificult with this thing hanging around.

  14. anonymous
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    Jun 13th 2011 !⃝

    I don't know what its about, but its a great song. Its good for when your in any situation you don't believe you can get through. The friend who introduced it to me's mother just died and I think I know why this song. <3

  15. anonymous
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    Apr 1st 2011 !⃝

    to me, this song is about someone trying to escape drama that they don't want to be involved in. however, they keep getting dragged into it and are ready to start discarding the friends who are causing it. no matter how hard they try to pull away, they keep getting caught up in argumets and are way in over their heads(:

  16. anonymous
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    Jan 23rd 2011 !⃝

    How can this song be about former band members when in this song he sings she's on his mind.Now that one verse defies the logic behind what everyone is interpreting in this song.It cant possibly be about former members

  17. 7ofSpades
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    Mar 31st 2010 !⃝

    It sounds to me like middle-school drama. The part about the smoke clearing, and wanting to just duck out of it rather than watch the whole thing pan out. A lot of the other lyrics seem to point at bits of it, like love "She's on your mind" and like struggles with friends, "That everyone I knew was waiting on a cue to turn and run" and in middle school, what with hormones and--- well I'm sure everyone remembers what a mess it was, there's lines like "everything was falling through." and "It's coming down to nothing more than apathy"
    It also sounds like he talks about losing a friend. "And suddenly I become a part of your past", "You find another friend and you discard" Anyway, I'm sure mine isn't the interpretation the song was written for, but it's the way I find it most relatable.

  18. anonymous
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    Mar 10th 2010 !⃝

    I think that in my honest opinion that he is singing about a fight between two people close, though I take it as a girlfriend and boyfriend, and then that person is left wishing he could be with her but he wishes she would be a "Stranger he could disengage" so he doesn't have to feel such confusion.

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