Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
There's a stranger in a car
Driving down your street
Acts like he knows who you are
Slaps his hand on the empty seat and says
"Are you gonna get in
Or are you gonna stay out?"
Just a stranger in a car
Might be the one they told you about
Well you never were one for cautiousness
You open the door
He gives you a tender kiss
And you can't even hear them no more
All the voices of choices
Now only one road remains
And strangers in a car
Two hearts
Two souls
Tonight
Two lanes
You don't know where you're goin'
You don't know what you're doin'
Hell it might be the highway to heaven
And it might be the road to ruin
But this is a song
For strangers in a car
Baby maybe that's all
We really are
Strangers in a car
(Driving down your street)
Just strangers in a car
(Driving down your street)
Strangers in a car
Driving down your street
Acts like he knows who you are
Slaps his hand on the empty seat and says
"Are you gonna get in
Or are you gonna stay out?"
Just a stranger in a car
Might be the one they told you about
Well you never were one for cautiousness
You open the door
He gives you a tender kiss
And you can't even hear them no more
All the voices of choices
Now only one road remains
And strangers in a car
Two hearts
Two souls
Tonight
Two lanes
You don't know where you're goin'
You don't know what you're doin'
Hell it might be the highway to heaven
And it might be the road to ruin
But this is a song
For strangers in a car
Baby maybe that's all
We really are
Strangers in a car
(Driving down your street)
Just strangers in a car
(Driving down your street)
Strangers in a car
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Strangers in a Car Lyrics as written by Marc Cohn
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
saw marc in concert tonight. he was awesome! he said that this song was about a dream he had one night about a decade ago. said that he still doesn't know what it means either. :)
I found this explanation on a marc cohn forum: "I do recall with certainty Marc explaining that the song came about from a dream he was having where someone was abducted. He woke and went straight to the piano where the wonderful chords progression emerged. He then started singing the song and wrote the lyrics in about 20 minutes."
I'm not a fan of marc cohn, but this song is one of my all time favourites...
i can't believe there are so few comments on this song. from the moment my boyfriend played it me, i've loved it and it is in my opinion one of the best songs ever written. the chord progression is amazing, and the way he changes it on the "intense" moments from D/F G to G D is fantastic. ilove the lyrics because they could apply to so many things, such as two lovers and how no one really knows what will happen - "You don't know where you're goin' You don't know what you're doin' Hell it might be the highway to heaven And it might be the road to ruin"
"Baby maybe that's all We really are" - this line is delivered so emotionally and together with the music, it moves me to tears every time i hear it. i love this song.
xUnbreakablex, I agree that this song is underrated. I'm a big Cohn fan, especially of his latest and his very early works. This song means so much to me, no matter what inspired it. I think it is such a beautiful song and I find that every time I hear it, it evokes such strong emotions in me.
I always thought (even though he made a comment about an abduction, which casts quite a different light on things) that this was about taking a chance on someone, taking a chance on that stranger who "might be the one they told you about." For me, it is about that person always standing in the background, who knows you so well, and all that it would take was taking that leap, trusting that the person will be there to catch you. I also think that his line at the end, "Baby, maybe that's all we really are," is a dooming of the relationship--he realizes that maybe this love that seemed to fated isn't going to happen; that maybe it is meant to be but people's fears hold them back, so they are left with just two hearts and souls on different paths.
Man, comments around here are sparse! This song needs some more love.
To me, as to other people on here, this song is largely about taking risks in life. You have lots of choices to make in your life, but you can't choose all of them. You have to take a chance and make a singular choice, the "one road".
The part about "...that's all we really are: strangers in a car" means to me that we're all in the same boat, so to speak. We don't really know many other people in this world as we drift along in our lives and most of us are strangers to each other, but we're all human beings who have choices to make and lives to lead.