1 Meaning
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Leather Jacket Lyrics
Hundreds of stories
Before I showed up.
They tell them to me
And pull photos up.
They're all connected
Like a pair of handcuffs.
No one seemed affected
That everyone had fucked.
But there was a softness;
Some kind of understanding.
Those 2AM decisions
Always shake your landings.
And no one ever knew
What could be demanded.
Maybe it was the cards --
The cards that she was handed.
You called me up
From a payphone.
I said, "Hang tight.
I can drive you home."
I pulled on up,
And with a southern accent,
I offered you
My dad's leather jacket.
I met her at a party.
She'd come straight from work,
Complained that the regulars
Were all a bunch of jerks.
She always looked tired;
She dazzled as a drunk.
She even pulled off
The stupid haircut.
She said, "I don't need a sponsor
Or the best lover;
Just a man that sees me
As some fixer-upper.
The last few years,
I've been running for cover;
Trying to sleep
So I can visit my mother."
When times were tough
In the worst years,
You never knew
How to interfere.
And now you're back
And just unpacking
Those bruised-up hikers
You keep attracting.
In September,
When it goes off
Like some goddamn
Alarm clock.
And it hits her
Like a third shot;
Conversations
She just stares off.
There's no longer
A voice calling
When she goes out,
Saying, "I'll be up
Waiting for you."
And I said,
"Who the fuck uses a payphone?"
Before I showed up.
They tell them to me
And pull photos up.
They're all connected
Like a pair of handcuffs.
No one seemed affected
That everyone had fucked.
Some kind of understanding.
Those 2AM decisions
Always shake your landings.
And no one ever knew
What could be demanded.
Maybe it was the cards --
The cards that she was handed.
From a payphone.
I said, "Hang tight.
I can drive you home."
I pulled on up,
And with a southern accent,
I offered you
My dad's leather jacket.
She'd come straight from work,
Complained that the regulars
Were all a bunch of jerks.
She always looked tired;
She dazzled as a drunk.
She even pulled off
The stupid haircut.
Or the best lover;
Just a man that sees me
As some fixer-upper.
The last few years,
I've been running for cover;
Trying to sleep
So I can visit my mother."
In the worst years,
You never knew
How to interfere.
And now you're back
And just unpacking
Those bruised-up hikers
You keep attracting.
When it goes off
Like some goddamn
Alarm clock.
And it hits her
Like a third shot;
Conversations
She just stares off.
A voice calling
When she goes out,
Saying, "I'll be up
Waiting for you."
"Who the fuck uses a payphone?"
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I think this song is about reconnecting with old high school friends who never really moved on once they graduated, and meeting someone new in the same situation. I know when you're young people want to sleep around and they make mistakes with each other which I think he is referring to in the first verse. This new girl he met seems pretty self-confident but its clear that there's something tough happening in her life and from the reference to visiting her mother and no longer having someone saying they'll stay up waiting for her, I think maybe her mom was sick and that's why she had to return home. All the while the singer is there for her and trying to cheer her up, being silly and talking in southern accents etc.
That's my interpretation but I'm sure it could mean a lot of other things to other people as well. It is such a catchy song I love it!