Released October 7, 2005 Length 3:58 | Genre Pop rock Label Epic | |
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Format CD single, digital download Recorded Bloomington, Indiana;
July 24, 2005 | ||
"Over My Head (Cable Car)" (originally performed as "Cable Car") is a song by American rock band The Fray. It was released in October 2005 as the lead single from their debut album How to Save a Life (2005) and hit the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single helped propel their album from the Top Heatseekers chart to the top 20 of The Billboard 200 chart. The CD single was backed with "Heaven Forbid" and a live version of "Hundred". In the UK, "Over My Head (Cable Car)" was released as the second single from the album, following "How to Save a Life".
Contents
The song sold over two million digital downloads in the United States and was certified double platinum by the RIAA in May 2006. The song was the fifth most-downloaded single of 2006 and was ranked number 13 on the Hot 100 singles of 2006 by Billboard. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 2007. It lost to "My Humps" by The Black Eyed Peas.
The song was ranked number 43 on Billboard's Best Adult Pop Songs of the Decade list and #100 on Billboard's Top 100 Digital Tracks of the Decade list.
After comparisons were drawn between "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and The Chainsmokers' "Closer", Isaac Slade and guitarist Joe King of The Fray were credited as co-writers of "Closer" on September 2, 2016.
Song meaning
The song was written about lead singer and pianist Isaac Slade's relationship with his brother, Caleb, nicknamed "Cable Car". He wrote the song because he and his brother were allegedly not speaking and were at odds with each other:
"It is about a fight I got in with my brother, Caleb. After he graduated high school, we drifted apart and really hadn't spoken in a long time. One day we both realized that we needed to fight it out. We'd been friends for 20 years. That's a long time when you're only 23 years old. We fought it out, and he's one of my best friends today."
The song was originally recorded as a demo early in the band's life. This demo version was picked up by Denver radio station KTCL, and became one of the station's most played songs of 2005. There is also another slightly different version of the song which is 4:10 in length.
Critical
Billboard called the tune "a timeless pop-rock smash that soars with lightness and ease." Stylus Magazine called it a "10/10, single of the year, instant classic track".
Commercial
The song became a top 40 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in late 2005. It lasted three weeks on the chart and peaked at position No. 37. The single gained airplay nationally, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the issue marked February 25, 2006. 14 weeks later it reached its peak position at No. 8 on the Hot 100 chart. On the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, the single reached the No. 2 position. The single also saw airplay on some Christian radio stations and spent several weeks on the R&R Christian charts, where it peaked at No. 27.
Internationally, the song was a Top 25 hit in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK. In the beginning of 2007, the song became popular in the Netherlands.
Music video
The music video was directed by Elliott Lester and was filmed on July 24, 2005 at East High School (Denver, Colorado) and at Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado. The video shows the members of the band as children, who attract the attention of other children by playing various instruments. Micah Slade, the youngest brother of Isaac Slade, assumes the role of Isaac as a child in the music video. While the video was not granted much airplay on MTV, it peaked at No. 2 in the VH1 Top 20 Countdown. It was ranked number 8 on VH1's "Top 40 Videos of 2006."