songs that feel like poems, pt. 1: Over My Head (Cable Car) by The Fray
lyrical discussion from a poetic lens. brb, losing arguments in cable cars
hi friends,
***even if i tried, i couldn’t adequately express the impact that music has made on my life — emotionally, physically, and poetically. i understand the cliché-ness of that statement. still, i find myself wanting to write about it.
whether you stick to your usual album rotation or listen to every Spotify-curated playlist, i’d love to use this space to talk about music that has profoundly impacted my brain, my heart, and my body — through the lens of poetry.
i’ll spare the high-level analysis in this series. it’ll be conversational and silly with a bit of surface examination. unfortunately for everyone, you can’t separate the poet from the person. but i can’t wait to highlight the poetry within the music :) ***
thanks for being here!
Over My Head (Cable Car) by The Fray
this song doesn’t get enough credit. this song didn’t get enough credit. not even when it peaked on the charts. i want readers to know that — in my wildly biased opinion — this song, lyrically and sonically, is a brilliant and effortless demonstration of beautiful, devastating poetics.
the line “i never knew” into the pause before the following line feels satisfying to hear, but when you look at it on the page, it looks like a cute, perfect line break, much like one used in a poem.
“i never knew … that everyone i knew was waiting on a cue / to turn and run when all i needed was the truth” — holy shit? think of the implications of this. the moment when you realize everyone around you is waiting to be told when to leave, but all you needed [to turn and run] was the TRUTH? ok.
“i’d rather run the other way than stay and see / the smoke and who’s still standing when it clears” when we take into context that this lyric lives on the same album as the lyric “sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same,” it kinda makes me go feral (complimentary).
the chorus. i want everyone to really, truly take in how great this hook is. it’s not just a song in the background of every breakup movie in the 2000s (my unrelated hot take is that these two “characters” could also be friends). it’s poetry.
“with eight seconds left in overtime / she’s on your mind” (!!!). sit with that. you have the chance to make (or help make) the goal-winning, life-changing shot, and instead you’re thinking about someone you love? i’m sick!
the second verse flips the perspective (“let’s rearrange / i wish you were a stranger i could disengage). this song so neatly illustrates a fight between two friends or lovers; one could even argue that the first verse is one “character” and the second verse is the other. it’s also interesting to look at it that way because then we, the listeners/audience, then need to choose for ourselves who the speaker (sorry!) is — and again, it could be both!
i also love what the rhyme scheme is doing here (and the whole song, for that matter). we get this 8-line, 4x4 grouping of lines — with the last line intentionally shaking up the rhyme scheme. the groupings help us imagine the cause/effect or speculation/reality of the lyrical form.
this verse imagines a scenario in which the speaker wishes the other “character” were the “stranger” versus the speaker feeling like a stranger to the other “character.” it then dismisses the scenario: “you find another friend and you discard / as you lose the argument in a cable car / hanging above as the canyon comes between) … i can viscerally feel this imagery and it’s not fun :) the image of a cable car mixed with the canyon metaphor … whew.
the lines “i’m becoming the part that don’t last / i’m losing you and it’s effortless” had me ruined as a preteen and still has me in ruins at 28. i also really love the rhyme scheme changes in addition to the tempo shift — it feels like a breather in the midst of an argument. ushers your ears into closer attention.
the lines “without a sound, we lose sight of the ground / in the throw around,” when thinking about form on the page, makes such good use of enjambment. and leading this into the climax of the song? wow.
i know this song turns 19 this year old (sick), but i still think it’s a brilliant way to look at poetics in music, specifically if you’re looking to emulate something with a consistent rhyme scheme/form and structure. i also feel this song has a very clear volta — but one can argue that the bridge of any song is its volta.
what kind of poem is this? if we’re imagining this as a poem, The Fray invents their own form here, but it most reminds me of a Zejel, but only the “quatrain” parts of it. or maybe, in theory, the tercet is rearranged to be the first three lines of the bridge? (probably not, but it’s neat to play!)
this is so fun for me; i love talking poetics, especially within the context of music. i plan to explore some of these ideas across genres, so don’t worry; it won’t always be my favorite piano ballads from the early aughts.
that’s all for now. add this to your playlist (again, 19 years later),
p.s., as a bonus — here’s a photo of me and my friend erika with the (recently) former lead signer of The Fray, as he sang Over My Head into my face <3
housekeeping:
unfold: poetry + prose, is available on amazon, bookshop, indigo, b&n, or wherever you get books <3
you can still buy paper girl from amazon, barnes & noble, indigo, or your local indie.
i love you. and i see you. and i am so glad you're here.
who i am: a writer, a lover, and a very Black + queer person. i love deeply, forget rarely, and spend most of my time cuddling with my dog, my cat, and my partner.
who i'm not: a therapist, mental health professional, or emergency service. i love hearing the stories of your experiences, but please don't send explicit or triggering details of your story without my prior consent.
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I love this! And lyrics that read like poems. I once had a poetry teacher who said that looking at lyrics is a great way to find examples of strong enjambment, and it's so true. I never thought of that 'til she said it. So excited for more in this series!
You might really like this artist Indigo De Souza- I love their lyrics and musicality, v powerful