Jet Pack Blues

This song is about a man who leaves his girlfriend/wife, even when she wants him to stay.

• "She's in a long black coat tonight Waiting for me in the downpour outside She's singing "Baby come home" in a melody of tears While the rhythm of the rain keeps time."

There was once a period of "sweetness" as the lyrics state, but in the end, the man doesn't know if he really loved her or if he just wanted someone to keep him company.

• "Did you ever love her? Do you know? Or did you never want to be alone?"

That's my interpretation... the lyrics and song title seem quite melancholy, but sadly (no pun intended), the melody doesn't really seem to match.

Ah well, CA

Basically, I think this song is about a depressed guy trying to find himself and get back into normal life got into a car crash through some series of events - possibly on his way to see his girlfriend, who is really sad about it and hopes he would come back to her, in turn making her depressed as well, and she starts remarking how nothing good ever lasts in life - hence their relationship.

For a breakdown of that, see below.

"I got those jet pack blues"

Jet packs rocket you into the sky, you could say they make something extreme, and blues are when you're sad, so jet pack blues would be when you're really extremely sad, like depression.

The speaker is depressed.

"Just like Judy"

Possibly Judy Garland, who was kind of depressed and attempted suicide a couple of times, overdosed her pills, and abused alcohol.

"The kind that makes June feel like September"

June is the start of summer, when everything is growing and the birds are singing and everyone is happy. September is the start of fall, when everything is going downhill - all the flowers are dying and the animals are migrating. The June and September analogy applies to the whole of life, so the speaker is saying that their depression is making everything, even the best things, feel terrible - they have a pessimistic view of everything.

"I'm the last one that you'll ever remember"

My theory about the whole song is that some guy got into a car crash (more on that below) and he's talking to his girlfriend in the song - he's telling her that she will never care about anyone else she dates - she'll only ever remember her boyfriend that died.

"And I'm trying to find that peace of mind Behind these two white highway lines"

This set of lyrics has major double meaning to me. Maybe the boyfriend is driving on the road somewhere (two highway lines) and he's really stressed from his depression, and he's trying to figure everything out. "Behind these two white highway lines" could also mean that he's behind everything, and is just watching from the side, if the highway a metaphor for where everyone is, the speaker is on the sidelines, trying to find his peace of mind, trying to find himself before he gets back on the highway. His depression is making him stop and gather everything. I don't think it's just one or the other, I think it has double meaning and it means both of those things.

"When the city goes silent"

The city is never silent, therefore, the speaker has died - he can't hear anything anymore.

"The ringing in my ears gets violent"

There is never nothing to hear, there's always that something in the background. That something is the ringing in his ears. I don't think it's actual ringing, but another metaphor for depression and/or the insanity that is always going on in everyone's head, and now that he's dead and all the distractions of the city are gone, his pure sadness overwhelms him.

"She's in a long black coat tonight"

Black is symbolic for mourning. She is the girlfriend of the guy that died and she's wearing a long black coat, therefore, she is mourning his death.

"Waiting for me in the downpour outside"

If she's waiting for him, maybe that means he was on his way to meet somewhere with his girlfriend, but maybe it just means that she's waiting for him in general. She's waiting for him to come back, even though she knows he can't - she's denying his death, the first in the stages of grief. Also, rain is symbolism for sadness.

"She's singing "Baby come home" in a melody of tears"

She's hoping that he comes home, calling out to him. OMG A MELODY OF TEARS THATS THE BEST THING IVE EVER READ ITS SO STRONG AND GAH

"While the rhythm of the rain keeps time"

Again, rain = sadness. So the sadness of the girl is helping her sing "Baby come home" in a mELODY OF TEARs. Basically, extreme sadness.

And I remember "Baby, come home" I remember "Baby, come home" I remember "Baby, come home" I remember "Baby, come home"

Maybe his girlfriend called him in the car and she knew it wasn't safe - it was raining - and asked him to just come home quick, and now the guy is remembering this, and regretting that he didn't go quick enough.

"Did you ever love her? Do you know? Or did you never want to be alone?"

Maybe in his last moments, the boyfriend is asking himself questions about the relationship he was in, wondering if he ever really loved her, or maybe these lyrics are general questions to other people, the world as a whole and he's telling them to evaluate their relationship and not make the mistake he did.

And she was singing "Baby, come home" "Baby, come home"

SWITCH TO GIRLFRIEND'S POINT OF VIEW

"I've got those jet pack blues"

Her boyfriend's death has caused her to become depressed.

"Fight off the light tonight and just stay with me Honey, don't you leave"

She's asking her boyfriend to fight death and stay with her. "The Light" is often associated with death. (don't go into the light, Jimmy!) She's begging him to stay alive.

"Don't you remember how we used to split a drink? It never mattered what it was I think our hands were just that close The sweetness never lasted, no"

Her and her boyfriend used to share drinks together, because they were so close. But the sweetness of the drink would always fade in time. That has double meaning for life - the drink they share is metaphorical for the life they have together, and all sweetness of life dies out eventually - happiness can never last forever.

And then the chorus repeats a bunch of times.

This is just what I think - feel free to agree or disagree or add more or whatever.

so i was in a long term relationship for about 8 months with a girl who i really did love but the distance was too hard to overcome. this song always reminds me of that. partially because it was usually a song i’d listen to on the drive home after a weekend at her house. generally these drives were made at night in the dark, hence where i draw from the “between these two white highway lines” lyrics. i’m not sure the actual meaning but i know this song will always hold a special place in my heart for those times. a good friend of mine once told me that music is really cool in the way that in can transport us back to a time and a specific place but that not all of those are places we want to go back to. i don’t want to go back to those times (especially because the relationship ended on a somewhat sour note) but i don’t mind the mementoes flooding back when it comes to this song because it’s a happy melancholic type of feel. “baby come home” is just the ringing in my ears sometimes reminding me of those long drives home.

Jet Pack Blues is when you leave a relationship because you had no feelings for them, but ended up feeling bad about it. The lyrics in the chorus verify the meaning as well:

"Did you ever love her, do you know? Or did you never want to be alone"

This shows that he was in the relationship, but didn't know why. He may have loved her and maybe he didn't. He broke up with her because he had no feelings for her in the end and tried to escape that feeling of guilt.

The lyric "I remember: 'Baby come home!'" shows that he left her with a feeling of tremendous guilt as she cried out for him to come back. She most likely loved him truly, so when he left, she was heartbroken.

In my opinion, the first verse and chorus is from the point of view of the one that left. The one with the Jet Pack Blues. The second verse may be them conversing or thinking about each other at the same time. He left and is feeling those blues while she is hoping for his return and remembering when they "used to split a drink" and those kinds of memories.

OTHER INTERPRETATIONS: She may be in the black coat because: a) she his mourning the loss of her love and relationship or b) she has become emotional and upset about the separation

The first verse is telling the story of him driving away from her after telling her his feelings were absent or false. The ringing in his ears may be from an argument that happened due to the break-up. Yelling and screaming could've come from that. "The city goes silent" because he is driving out of the city and possibly to a more relaxing/quiet area or where he may actually be living.

Of course, all of this could be quite off, but I do believe that this is indeed a story about false love and feelings. -ThatKid88

For me is one of the best songs of the Fall Out Boy and already one of my personal favourites.

A man has realized that the only reason he is with his lover is out of loneliness.