Imogen Heap – Speeding Cars

Here's the day you hoped would never come
Don't feed me violins
Just run with me through rows of speeding cars

The paper cuts, the cheating lovers
The coffee's never strong enough
I know you think it's more than just bad luck

There, there baby
It's just textbook stuff
It's in the ABC of growing up

Now, now darling
Oh don't lose your head
'Cause none of us were angels
And you know I love you yeah

Sleeping pills know
Sleeping dogs lie never far enough away
Glistening in the cold sweat of guilt

I've watched you slowly winding down for years
You can't keep on like this
Now's a bad a time as any whoa

There, there baby
It's just textbook stuff
It's in the ABC of growing up

Now, now darling
Oh don't kill yourself
'Cause none of us were angels
And you know I love you yeah

It's OK by me
It's OK by me
It's OK by me
It was a long time ago

It's OK by me
It's OK by me
It's OK by me
It was a long time ago

There, there baby
It's just textbook stuff
It's in the ABC of growing up

Now, now darling
Oh don't lose your head
'Cause none of us were angels
And you know I love you yeah

There, there baby
It's just textbook stuff
It's in the ABC of growing up

Now, now darling
Oh don't kill yourself
'Cause none of us were angels
And you know I love you yeah


Lyrics submitted by delial, edited by maddiereader

"Speeding Cars" as written by Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap

Lyrics © WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Speeding Cars song meanings
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149 Comments

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  • +3
    General Commentya actually...a couple people here have it right. its
    "don't feed me VIOLENCE, just run with me through rows of speeding cars"

    not violins...
    but i agree.. this is an amazing song. i love it.
    carlee-anneon February 04, 2007   Link
  • +3
    Song MeaningIn this song, it appears that the speaker is trying to reason with her suicidal loved one, who is dealing with a rough past. I can take it line by line, for a further explanation.

    here's the day you hoped would never come (Something has happened to make the speaker speak out and force to loved one to confront what has happened)
    don't feed me violins (She does not want to hear the sad stories. Much like the expression, "I'm playing the worlds smallest violin for you," she is using the instrument to represent sadness, or maybe even self pity.)
    just run with me through rows of speeding cars (I believe that the speeding cars are a symbol of danger, one that she is trying to make him face.)
    the papercuts, the cheating lovers (both further examples of what she is trying to force him to face)
    the coffee's never strong enough (Usually when someone talks about the strength of a drink, it is to compare it to the strength of alcohol. This leads me to feel that the loved one she is talking to is using alcohol as a method to cope with what has happened.)
    i know you think it's more than just bad luck (She feels that he is avoiding talking about why it happened. This is another attempt to to make him face whatever happened.)

    there there, baby (she is calming him)
    it's just text book stuff (this means that it is things that everyone goes through)
    it's in the ABC of growing up (Again she refers to the subject as basic.)
    now now, darling (She is again trying to talk him down.)
    don't lose your head (Lose your head is to mean his ability to think clearly.)
    none of us were angels (She states that everyone did thing in the past that they were not proud of.)
    and you know I love you, yeah (She is letting him know that she cares and he is not alone.)

    sleeping pills know, sleeping dogs lie (again she is saying using methods such as sleeping pills to escape his problems does not make them disappear.)
    never far enough away
    glistening in the cold sweat of guilt (He feels bad about something. Something he can't forget and or forgive himself.)
    I've watched you slowly winding down for years (she has watched him torture himself over the issue)
    you can't keep on like this
    now's a bad a time as any

    there there, baby
    it's just text book stuff
    it's in the ABC of growing up
    now now, darling
    don't kill yourself (everything is the same but this time she must feel that he is suicidal)
    none of us were angels
    and you know I love you, yeah

    it's ok by me (She either forgives him for what he did or accepts his past.)
    it was a long time ago (she is saying that he needs to face what he did and forget it.)
    childofhimon July 11, 2011   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +2
    General Commenti don't think it has anything to do with boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. i think it's about a friend who is in need. her friend is in trouble, denying life's possibilities. her friend has experienced rejection and betrayal. saying "none of us were angels" shows her friend that nobody's perfect and we all experience heartbreak. but it's nothing to kill ourselves over. it's a part of life. "the coffee's never strong enough" means we're always striving for something more when we expect a certain outcome, but we don't always get what we expect. her friend is suicidal, but she says what he/she feels is a part of life and nothing to kill ourselves over.
    Rineayon May 10, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General CommentAs with all great art, a timely song can haunt one's soul. Such is, I'm afraid, the case with this mysterious work. I don't know Imogen Heap from Uriah Heap, but I know timeless poetry, and this piece comes searing through my heart as the father of an anorexic daughter. For reasons that are, I'm sure, her own, she placed this song on a CD in my car, and over the last several months, I have listened for her voice in it. Without fanfare or announcement, it simply "showed up" at a time when she was considering alternatives to this mortal coil. And, while I cannot speak with the eloquence expressed by so many here regarding the song's "deeper meaning" and personal affect upon them, I can tell you that this song gave voice to my daughter's pain. Through it, I hear her now forgiving me for not recognizing her pain sooner.

    While none of us, indeed, are angels, she has ministered to my soul as only an angel may, and I would give anything for the opportunity to run with her through speeding cars.
    Elder Statesmanon September 16, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General CommentThere's something absolutely heartstopping about the first line of this song.
    3lanceron September 21, 2008   Link
  • +2
    My InterpretationFor me this song is about a friend or lover of a person who has been a perpertrator of sexual assault, as a child. This could be, for example a young boy, about 11 who has perhaps experimented sexually with younger girls ("it's just text book stuff, in the ABC's..."). Or even, statutory rape.

    I believe that it is about the song writer accepting the behaviour of their friend, and trying to convince them that what they have done is okay now, it is in the past and they are allowed to move on. That no one is perfect and she doesn't ecpect them to be. It's really a sad song.

    She is acknowledging that the pain they feel is real, ("Don't feed me violins...") and that patronisation wont work.

    This song means a lot to me, and when I discovered it for myself it really spoke to me.. hence my interpretation. For me, it was eery.

    The part that really persuaded me of this meaning is this: it's ok by me
    it was a long time ago.

    's how I have always seen it.Obviously it isn't necessarily about , but that;
    bel91on February 13, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI of course agree with everyone that this song is amazing but gman i interpreted it differently... i kind of thought maybe he cheated on her and felt really guilty because well when shes saying "cheating lovers" and "none of us were angels and you know i love you" i just kind of thought she was saying its okay don't lose your head i forgive you and she kind of says that when she says "its ok by me it was a long time ago"

    i dont know thats just what i heard...
    Jennnner505on May 07, 2006   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +1
    General Commentpretty obvious.
    papercuts and cheating lovers.
    the ABCS of growing up.
    for me its about the ups and downs of life.
    papercuts are smaller but cheating lovers is a big problem.
    people complain about the coffee when other's lives are being ruined.
    it gives fortunate ones that complain 24/7 a slap in the face.
    ABCDEmilyon May 11, 2006   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • +1
    General Commenti think she telling someone that its ok and everyone goes through these things....like its all fate...i think that's where the run with me through lanes of speeding cars line comes in...like thats all life is...running through lanes of speeding traffic...not knowing when you'll get hit...
    flyingwon June 03, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Commentlife's hard.
    foghornon April 24, 2009   Link

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