I Can Lift A Car

My own interpretation of this song involves a man who recently lost his wife, and is having problems coping. "When I come home, when I come home. Oh I hear you washing in the shower." "Mirages of you, mirages of you. Even steam pouring through the crack at the floor" suggests he's become so used to coming home to his wife showering that he begins to hear and see her showering still when he returns home. "I won't lose it" Suggests he has a history of breaking out into emotional fits from his major loss, and that he tries to stay strong when he does see her, and when he talks to her. "I've been going out, and trying to stay fit. Well I met someone who wears your glasses. She kissed me on my new futon. Oh I'm clumsy cause she finds me attractive" This would be him telling his dead wife about a new woman he met, telling her this new girl reminds him of her, and that despite moving on, he still thinks of her. The 'going out and staying fit' part would suggest he's just now starting to get out of the house more often, as it's more than likely he stayed home as often as he could after his wife's death. My final piece of evidence would be the title and chorus, it's self. "I can lift a car up all by myself" would be him trying to say he's being strong through this tough time, the 'all by myself' part would further suggest that he is, in fact, alone, and without a wife.

Thank you and goodnight.

Going along with the other comments, I think it's about a guy dealing with a rough breakup he went through, probably a while ago. ("So you kissed me / On the futon / Oh I hope you like it in Chicago") The repeated phrases "I won't lose it" and "hold it steady" refer to him trying to hold it together emotionally. He copes by interposing physical strength over his apparent weakness, and declaring this to his former girlfriend. The whole song is framed as a message to her, where he tries to make himself feel bigger and better by declaring the titular feat of strength, and later in a rationalization that there are 'other fish in the sea'. ("Well I met someone who wears your glasses / She kissed me on / My new futon / Oh I'm clumsy cause she finds me attractive") Throughout it all he tries to bolster his self-confidence by repeating to himself "All by myself, I can lift a car up all by myself", when he likely still feels this is a childish justification and he still misses her. I like how the last repeat of the "all by myself" is dropped much lower, it really feels like he's saying with all the pride of a little kid shouting a challenge, but simultaneously feeling a little waver of doubt.

It seems that when he is in love he feels strong enough to lift a car. First, he is in love with the girl in the shower who moves away (to Chicago) after kissing him goodbye on the futon. Then he puts himself back out there and happens to meet someone else and again feeling strong enough to lift a car all by himself.

This is a song about impressing a girl. "I won't lose it" is him trying to "play it cool" but then he bursts out with how awesome he is because, didn't you know, he can lift a car all by himself. :)

This is basically about impressing a girl. A lot of guys often like to try to impress girls by saying all the things they're able to do that other guys can't, this is just an exaggerated version of it, basically.

I feel like the "hold it stead" and "I won't lose it" have double meaning in this song. In the beginning, it's basically him trying not to lose his girlfriend, trying to impress her. Then when she moves away to Chicago and they have to break up, he's alone and heartbroken, so he's trying to keep it together. "I won't lose it"/"Hold it steady" is him trying to hold back from breaking down in front of others and letting them see that he feels like shit over this.

Then, he finally decides to start going out and seeing new girls and trying to stay fit. He falls for her because she reminds him of his ex. He tries to impress her by saying the same things he did to his ex.

The cycle starts over again with "I won't lose it" and him trying not to lose this girl.

It's a nice song, I think. And when you think about it, slightly depressing, haha.

Hate to be the one to say it but for some reason this song sounds like it's coming from a sexual place. He's seeing mirages of her, basically fantasizing about her and trying to contain his sexual excitement. (I won't lose it) He is strong and can control himself.

I'm actually really surprised that a lot of people take this song differently. I find this song to be about being in a relationship and them breaking up, he mentions hearing her in the shower and then mentioning it's mirages aka it's not really her he's remembering their relationship. He mentions "I won't lose it hold it steady" and that's him being upset and sad trying to be strong. And I take the term "I can lift a car all by myself" as "I am strong I will get over this all by myself I am so strong I can lift a car".

He then mentions kissing her on a futon and her moving to Chicago. So she probably had to move and they broke up because long distance wasn't an option. He even mentions going out and staying fit like he's trying to get over her and focus on other things.

Then he talks about a new girl and a new futon representing him moving on but still mentions that she wears the same kind of glasses his old girl had. I think this song is just about moving on from a relationship that didn't go bad persay just moving on and normal stuff.

I broke it down and it made more sense to me :-).

"When I come home, I can still hear you showering. I see mirages of you and even steam pouring through the crack at the floor. But I won’t lose it and I’ll hold it steady. I’m strong enough (to lift a car) to live by myself. Over top one another, I’m strong enough. My grandpa’s leather jacket and goggles are nice (must have a deeper meaning to Nicholas). You kissed me on my old futon and left to Chicago. But I won’t lose it; I can live on my own. Did you know I’ve moved on? I’ve been going out and trying to stay fit and I met someone that reminds me of you. She kissed me on my new futon. I'm clumsy because she finds me attractive. But I won’t lose it, I’m supposed to be able to handle this all by myself."

This song is actually about a period in the singers life when he drove a 1965 Fiat 500F. He was driving to Chicago one day after stealing his grandfather's bronze medal. (The terms "Grandfather's Jacket and Glasses" is code of sorts for this)

He was going to Chicago to sell the medal in order to finance the recording of the band's first demo. On a back road while on the trip, he hit a patch of black ice.

Coincidentally, this was at the same time that Ozzy Osbourne's plane was swooping at the bus that Randy Rhodes was traveling in. He was behind the bus and when the plane swooped down causing the bus, it caused him to lose control of his car as well.

In the aftermath of the accident, he tried to save Randy Rhodes by lifting the bus, but was unable to. Distraught with his meager diminutive stature, he walked over to his car, which had landed on its side during the accident, and by the Hammer of Thor, he lifted the car back into its upright position.

So, the song is actually about lifting a car, albeit a small one.