Over My Head (Cable Car)

"Over My Head"
"Over My Head"
Song

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For other uses, see Over My Head

"Over My Head (Cable Car)" (originally performed as "Cable Car") is an alternative rock song by Colorado-based rock band The Fray on their debut album How to Save a Life (2005). It was their debut single from the album, 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 single is available exclusively as a digital download. Some CD singles of the song were given out to attendees of a concert on December 17, 2004. The CD single was backed with "Heaven Forbid" and a live version of "Hundred".

Chart success

As of October 8, the song has sold 1.3 million digital singles in America, giving the single Platinum status.^[1] As of July 13, the song was the fifth most downloaded single of 2006.^[2] The song appeared on the American top hits compilation NOW 22, which debuted at #1 on The Billboard 200 chart. It has also appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Stealth. The song particularly found a home on modern adult contemporary radio stations, causing the song to hit the top three of the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, and overall reached the top ten of the Hot 100 chart. The success that the song saw in the US prompted Epic Records to release the single in Australia and New Zealand as well, where it has found modest success, hitting the top 30 of the singles charts in both countries. It has also charted in the top 100 of the German singles chart.

Song meaning

Isaac Slade wrote the song about a fight he had with his brother Caleb (whose nickname is Cable Car). Isaac has mentioned on occasion that this fight had something to do with Isaac asking Caleb (who was the first bassist) to leave the band for its best interests in 2002. The song is told from Caleb's view point, for example, "To turn and run when all I needed was the truth," corresponds to the band not telling him about his shortcomings as a bassist. In the second verse, he tells the band that they will find a new bassist, but still mistreat the new bassist as they mistreated him ("Find another friend and you'll discard."). ^[3]. The original title of the track was just "Cable Car" but Epic Records believed that it would be easier for people to remember "Over My Head".

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 Issac, assumes the role of Isaac as a child in the music video. While the video was not granted very much airplay on MTV, it peaked at #2 in the VH1 Top 20 Countdown.

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
U.S. Adult Top 40	2
U.S. Hot Digital Tracks	4
U.S. Pop 100 Airplay	5
U.S. Top 40 Mainstream	5
U.S. Hot Digital Songs	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	8
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	8
U.S. Hot 100 Airplay	15
U.S. Adult Contemporary	15¹
U.S. Hot Ringtones	20
U.S. Modern Rock	37
Canada Airplay Chart	11
Australian ARIA Digital Track Chart	15
World Singles	24
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	22
Australian ARIA Physical Singles Chart	25
New Zealand Singles Chart	25
Germany Singles Top 100	83

^{1^{indicates that song is currently at highest peak and may continue to rise.}}

Music Video Chart	Peak position
U.S. Hot Videoclip Tracks	2
VH1 Top 20 Countdown	2

Trajectories

Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart trajectory
Chart position	98	89	83	64	56	48	37	31	26	22	18	15	9	10	8	10	13	12	15	13
Week	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
Chart position	11	10	10	9	9	11	11	18	21	22	24	22	22	24	25	25	27	43	36

Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
United World Chart Top 40 chart trajectory
Chart position	32	32	29	31	36	34	36	39	34	32	30	25	24	27	26	30	30	29	30	34	28	32	37

Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Australia ARIA Top 50 Singles
Chart position	32	28	29	30	29	27	27	25	25	33	29	22	28	28	34	44

Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
New Zealand Singles Chart trajectory
Chart position	35	31	31	31	29	35	30	25	29	33	34	29	34	out	38	36

Sample

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References

^ "Over My Head (Cable Car)" was certified Double Platinum in May 2006. However, the RIAA changed their prerequisites for single sales, and it has since been reduced to single Platinum.
^ "First half sales: Downloads up; CDs, revenues down". USA Today. July 13 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "The Fray Song Facts".

External links

The Fray's homepage — official website.
Lyrics to "Over my Head (Cable Car)"

[1] "Over My Head (Cable Car)" was certified Double Platinum in May 2006. However, the RIAA changed their prerequisites for single sales, and it has since been reduced to single Platinum.

[2] "First half sales: Downloads up; CDs, revenues down". USA Today. July 13 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[3] "The Fray Song Facts".

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