One night in Iowa
He and I in a borrowed car
Went driving in the summer
Promises in every star

Out in the distance
I could hear some people laughing
I felt my heart beat back
A weekend's worth of sadness

There was a farmhouse
That had long since been deserted
We stopped and carved our hearts
Into the wooden surface

We thought just for an instant
We could see the future
We thought for once we knew
What really was important

Coming up close
Everything sounds like welcome home
Come home, and oh, by the way

Don't you know that I could make
A dream that's barely half-awake come true

I wanted to say
But anything I could have said
I felt somehow that you already knew

We got back in the car
And listened to a Dylan tape
We drove around the fields
Until it started getting late

And I went back to
My hotel room on the highway
And he just got back
In his car and drove away

Coming up close
Everything sounds like welcome home
Come home, and oh, by the way

Don't you know that I could make
A dream that's barely half-awake come true

I wanted to say
But anything I could have said
I felt somehow that you already knew

Coming up close
Everything sounds like welcome home
Come home

Coming up close
Everything sounds like welcome home
Come home, come on home


Lyrics submitted by straycat

Coming up Close Lyrics as written by Aimee Mann

Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Coming Up Close song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

5 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    Okay, here's is what I think happened. Young girl 19-21 visiting friend/ acquaintance/ new love. I'm leaning toward the idea of a couple at the end of summer of their freshman year with Her visiting Him.

    "One night In Iowa, he and I in a borrowed car. Went driving in the summer… And I went back to my hotel room on the highway. And he just got back in his car and drove away."

    The interesting thing is why would they be in a "borrowed car" when he has his own car.

    The relationship simply did not work out because of simple class structure: rich girl / poor guy. Any girl that could "make a dream that's barely half-awake come true" is incompatible with a guy that's realistic, can realized that the unstated narrator young girl effervescent idealism will go out the same way the that old farmhouse with neglect:

    "There was a farmhouse that had long since been deserted We stopped and carved our hearts into the wooden surface We thought just for an instant we could see the future We thought for once we knew what really was important."

    She will move on once the excitement of the "newness" of a thing is gone (she's a hard core rich neophyte, he thought.) My favorite telling lines (and I have already worn out two LPs):

    "We got back in the car and listened to a Dylan tape. We drove around the fields until it started getting late."

    (Rhyming "tape" and "late" is brilliant.) Of course, it's dated to the cassette mixed-tape era, but the the artist mention in the line is what's relevant. Mixed-tape era in relation with Bob Dylan is around "Oh, Mercy" Dylan. But I'm thinking; the narrator is listening to the earlier works of Dylan, probably before the "Basement Tapes" in the early 70s. In which case, the tape content probably fall under one of 3 categories: goodbye songs, social commentaries, and others. Here, I think it's all about the goodbye songs. The narrator's memory, shrouded with regret, is obviously trying to reconcile here with youthful insecurities combined with intuiative realization that it was her own personal inability to commit leading to the reason that they did not married and rebuilt the "Old Farm House" into the house that in their old ages can still show that "We stopped and carved our hearts into the wooden surface." was that either he left on his own volition (disillusioned or being a realist) or that she, somehow drove him away.

    "We thought just for an instant we could see the future. We thought for once we knew what really was important…

    And I went back to my hotel room on the highway. And he just got back in his car and drove away."

    I love this song it made me nostalgic about the pre-playlist era, whether tape or cds and of the aimless driving of youth; because it's the only option for intimacy. Of course, ultimately it's all about Aimee Mann Incredible Voice and Story Telling. Quite in the vein of James Joyce's "Araby"! Amazing!

    fusehubon August 19, 2011   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version. Great version of a great song,
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example: "'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Album art
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.