Must have been late after noon
I could tell by how far the child's shadow stretched out
And he walked with a purpose in his sneakers down the street
He had many questions like children often do

He said, "Tell me all your thoughts on God
And tell me, am I very far?"

Must have been late after noon
On our way, the sun broke free of the clouds
We count only blue cars skip the cracks in the street
And ask many questions like children often do

We said, "Tell me all your thoughts on God
'Cause I'd really like to meet her.
And ask her why we're who we are."

Tell me all your thoughts on God
'Cause I'm on my way to see her
So tell me, am I very far
Am I very far now

It's getting cold, picked up the pace
How our shoes make hard noises in this place
Our clothes are stained, we pass many cross eyed people
And ask many questions like children often do

We said, Tell me all your thoughts on God
'Cause I'd really like to meet her
And ask her why we're who we are

Tell me all your thoughts on God
'Cause I'm on my way to see her
So tell me am I very far
Am I very far now?

Tell me all your thoughts on God
Tell me all your thoughts on God

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Lyrics submitted by sadlilemogirl, edited by davidst, terriebari

Counting Blue Cars Lyrics as written by George Edward Iii Pendergast George Pendergast Iii

Lyrics © BIGGER THAN PEANUT BUTTER MUSIC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid, Abkco Music Inc.

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Counting Blue Cars song meanings

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88 Comments

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General Comment
I think most people who have posted thus far are missing a ton of this song.

I believe that the speaker in the song, and very likely the child as well, are homeless. Here's why:

1: The song describes a full day of walking (mid-afternoon, late-afternoon, evening) in an urban setting. 2: The speaker tells the time by the child's shadow rather than by a watch. 3: The speaker and child occupy themselves in simple ways - counting cars, skipping cracks, etc. 4: As it gets cold, the song turns more melancholy and quiet; they pick up the pace, suggesting a fear of the cold. 5: Their clothes are stained, and the people they describe the people they pass as cross-eyed. Since I doubt many people are actually cross-eyed, I think this may mean angry-faced, using 'cross' as the synonym for angry. 7: As an earlier comment suggested, the two may suffer from a mental disorder such as OCD (which is far more prominent among the homeless).

Based on this, I think the song is a homeless person narrating a day spent with his or her child; they are among many people, but they can't really communicate with them (much like a child is surrounded by adults, patronized or ignored). They occupy themselves, observing the world around them, and thinking about God. I think they may even be angry at being abandoned by God, and so they have many questions for her.

That's my seven cents.

I think most people who have posted thus far are missing a ton of this song. I believe that the speaker in the song, and very likely the child as well, are homeless. Here's why: 1: The song describes a full day of walking (mid-afternoon, late-afternoon, evening) in an urban setting. 2: The speaker tells the time by the child's shadow rather than by a watch. 3: The speaker and child occupy themselves in simple ways - counting cars, skipping cracks, etc. 4: As it gets cold, the song turns more melancholy and quiet; they pick up the pace, suggesting a fear of the cold. 5: Their clothes are stained, and the people they describe the people they pass as cross-eyed. Since I doubt many people are actually cross-eyed, I think this may mean angry-faced, using 'cross' as the synonym for angry. 7: As an earlier comment suggested, the two may suffer from a mental disorder such as OCD (which is far more prominent among the homeless). Based on this, I think the song is a homeless person narrating a day spent with his or her child; they are among many people, but they can't really communicate with them (much like a child is surrounded by adults, patronized or ignored). They occupy themselves, observing the world around them, and thinking about God. I think they may even be angry at being abandoned by God, and so they have many questions for her. That's my seven cents.

Reason:

BigKirch25on February 23, 2005 Link
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@BigKirch25
You know, when I first read this I didnt think so, but the more I think about it Ive come to some conclusions myself... 

BigKirch, youre correct about the shadow thing. I dont know about you guys but I never needed to use the sun and shadows and all that to tell time so I dont know how to and I dont think I know anyone who does except my grandpa, so that shows...street smarts isnt exactly the word Im looking for but it shows intelligence that a homeless person would have...Also, the fact that the kid is wearing sneakers to church. It says how our shoes make hard noises in this place...well a lot of churches have fancy flooring and shit and everybody else is wearing dress shoes and heels and theyre wearing tennis shoes and they make a lot of noise clanking around. 2.Am I very far- I think that means theyre walking to church and the kid keeps asking am I very far kind of like a kid in a car says are we there yet? 

On my way to see her- I think, if they are homeless, maybe the "her" is a sign of the child being uneducated. I may be wrong but I dont think its some sort of super complex religious detail, and I think all of you are over analyzing the hell out of that. 

Counting blue cars- Something children do, I remember going to the beach as a child or on other long roadtrips and etc counting cars, not necessarily blue ones but toyotas or silver cars and so on. Its far fetched but maybe they were counting blue cause if theyre homeless they havent always been and maybe they used to have a blue car? I dont know, like I said its just an idea and its far fetched as hell. 

The cross eyed people- They've been walking all day so yeah of course theyre all stained up and such, but maybe everyone isnt LITERALLY cross eyed people, maybe the people at the church know theyre homeless and kind of look down upon them for it cause some people are like that especially if its in the rich part of the neighborhood. ALSO, another theory is, all the people are at church and I know the church I went to had a big ass cross hanging up front so maybe theyre all filing in staring at the cross kinda mesmerized and the kid looks up and they have gleams in their eyes (yes I know that sounded emo) and in their eyes he could see the cross theyd be looking at kind of like a reflection. Also, theres the other option that the kid keeps asking am I very far because if that kid dont have shit, and everybody in church is lookin at em cross eyed and such, maybe God is the only good and pure thing this kid knows or has ever heard of and he wants to know how far he is because he wants to leave the awful life he has on earth and go to heaven like it's his own little way of keeping his hope alive for one good thing to look forward to because he knows it'll all be over one day and he cant wait... I dont know, but thats pretty much what I got out of it.

cassyyyon February 18, 2010