“Ambiguous” Reflection – “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol

“Ambiguous” Reflection – “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol

                     The term “ambiguous” is unique because it marks something as undefinable and open to many interpretations. To think of song that is “ambiguous” was hard but I think I made a solid choice with the song “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol. This song was a hit back in the early 2000’s and I distinctly remember it playing on the radio when taking the bus to school is 6th grade. Many people think this song is really sad and so did I when I was younger. However, as I grew older the’s song’s meaning changed from sadness to embracing love.

                 The song begins with a repetitive guitar note that sounds like metronome or a phone dial. The tone of the song also seems very somber and sad because of the slow melody and the soft, droning voice of the singer. The whole feel to the song too is very ambiguous because of the combination of that repetitive melody and the singer’s voice. At first glance people listening to the song might view the lyrics “If I lay here, If I just lay here, Would you lie with me and just forget the world? ” as relating toward someone who is dying or about to commit suicide. To be honest the somber tone of the song creates that sad, hopeless feeling to the listener. However, if the song is listened to many times you realize that  due to the ambiguous nature of the song, its meaning can be open to many interpretations.

             For me this song has a dual interpretation of sadness (younger me) and happiness/appreciating love (older me). The title itself is also very loose in it’s interpretation by the listener as well. The phrase “Chasing Cars” to younger me meant chasing false dreams, hopes, and fantasies that seemed unobtainable. To older me “Chasing Cars” means the exact opposite! It means going after what you desire no matter how silly it may seem to someone else. Having that switch is significant to me because it’s incredible to see how a song can change it’s meaning based on your life and the way you feel, think, and act.

         Younger me was quite the downer because of people constantly beating down my ideas and my self esteem. For older me I have learned to grow myself despite the judgement of others. I can explain this shift in me through this song with a couple of examples of dual interpretation in the lyrics. The lyrics, “We don’t need, Anything, Or anyone” to younger me was that me and my ideas had to be isolated and didn’t requite the love and appreciation of others. To older me this lyric is completely different because I have a boyfriend. In my life, I have searched and gained opportunities in science, academics, and service but never matters of the heart. College was the first time I enabled myself to love someone as much as I love/appreciate myself. To me the lyric, “We don’t need, Anything, Or anyone” is that I have the ability to love someone without fear of adversity of judgement of others.

      Another lyric that I would like to discuss a dual interpretation of is “I don’t know where, Confused about how as well, Just know that these things will never change for us at all”. The lyric to younger me interpreted it as those feelings of isolation, depression, and sadness would stay and haunt my life. However, to older me it represents no matter how confusing life gets and how frustrating everything  may seem that love can be something  that is constant and beautiful.

  Works Cited

                       Lee, Jacknife. By Gary Lightbody. Chasing Cars. Snow Patrol. Jacknife Lee, 2005. CD.

Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/snowpatrol/chasingcars.html

32 thoughts on ““Ambiguous” Reflection – “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol

  1. Chuck.Powell@stonybrook.edu

    Thanks Anne. Fell in love with this song when I heard it many years ago. Always happy when it pops up on a playlist or the radio…

    Funny, for me it is inherently obvious that “older you” (nice literary device by the way) is 100% correct and “younger you” is just confused, mistaking a sweet soft melody for melancholy. To me this is the singer unabashedly inviting the love of their life just “forget the world” in favor of love.

    Might just be an age thing, since I’m older than dirt I tend to resonate with the passage “before we get too old”

    Reply
  2. Crysta Carey

    Chasing Cars! Oh gosh I remember thinking the same thing; the misconception that it was a sad song when it really isn’t. My high school’s chamber orchestra played this song my senior year and the experience was similar to the song’s interpretation. But instead of assuming a negative and realizing it was a positive, we assumed everything would be great but tensions rose between students and it turned into a not-as-fun-as-it-could-have-been experience. The contrast between what one assumes the story to be based on the instrumentals, and the actual story conveyed by the lyrics is a rather funny yet frequently made mistake by many.

    Reply
  3. Marissa.Bavaro@stonybrook.edu

    I remember this song! I used to play Sing Star on my PS2 with my best friend, which is like a karaoke game and this was my best song! I always got like amazing scores on it, I don’t know why I guess I was just good at singing this song.

    Reply
  4. Brandon.Sussman@stonybrook.edu

    I love this song, and oddly enough I also used to sing this on Sing Star, which is where I’m most familiar with it from. It’s a beautiful song, and I love how you traced the change in its meaning for you throughout your life. One of the best things about an ambiguous song is the way you can adapt your interpretation and still find it just as meaningful, and the way you made it mirror your personal life growing up is a great example of that, and it also really shows the impact that music can have on someone’s life.

    Reply
  5. madison ceponis

    The song, “Chasing Cars,” by Snow Patrol is about a couple finding comfort in each other; through love, pureness, and being content. The lead singer, Gary Lightbody, is singing about a girl that he loved and was infatuated with according to smoothradio.com. The song title, according to smoothradio.com, “Chasing Cars,” is a phrase Lightbody’s Father used to say, “He was like a dog chasing a car, he would never catch it and if he did, he wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
    This song shows a theme of “you and me versus the world.” At first listen, the song sounds sad but over time and maturity it is relevant to embracing love. It has a very somber, slow, and soft melody. Depending on your life views, feelings, and actions could change the meaning of the song. But it is very important to remember that love can be constant with that one person.
    As Lightbody is standing in the middle of the street, in the rain, at night, it shows us that he is lost in love. In the song, he says, “Those three words are said too much,” meaning that “I love you” is a sentiment that is used too much in everyday language. This song, “is one of the only songs I’ve written about love where I was happy,” Lightbody says in the SmoothRadio Interview. “I don’t quite know, how to say, how I feel,” is another example of uncertainty in love. Generally, his songs are about ends or relationships, but this one is different. As he is so infatuated with his love for this girl, he is lost for words about how he feels.
    Even though he is so uncertain about his love for this girl, he is content with her. When he is sitting in the coffee shop, looking out the window. He is looking for comfort and fulfillment in his relationship with her. He says, “We don’t need anything or anyone,” meaning his love is so strong for the both of them that he can be content with her. He knows that if they are together they can go through any struggle, again he says, “Just know these things will never change for us at all.”
    In an interview with radiox, Lightbody says, “It is the purest love song I have ever written.” As he is singing, “Would you lie with me and just forget the world,” he is lying in multiple locations. For example, he is laying in the middle of the living room floor; and for a more dramatic effect, he is laying in the middle of the street, in the rain. It is showing the effect of forgetting the world, and what is around him. But to do that, he wants her grace. He says, “I need your grace,” to discover each other in a better way of living in their love that is growing.
    “Chasing Cars,” was a song written in 2005, by Snow Patrol. This is one of many love songs that are about happiness in love, being fulfilled in a relationship, and keeping it pure. This song is important to hold close to our relationships because the themes above give us a sense of what to look for. For example, look for someone that is so in love with you, that will put you first no matter what. Also, it is important to be in a relationship where no matter what obstacles come your way, it is you and your partner versus the problem, together you can get through it. Lastly, it is important to look at the matter of you are “the light of one’s life”.

    Reply
  6. Language Police

    I also love the deep meaning in this song, but I’ve never gotten past the glaring linguistic mistake: It should say “If I LIE here”…’lay’ means to put something down, ‘lie’ means to be assume a horizontal position’.

    Reply
    1. brian aherne

      lay is the past tense of to lie – 2nd conditional structure is If + past simple, would + infinitive so he’s actually right grammatically.

      Reply
  7. Bob

    A beautiful song. My wife passed away after a short battle with leukemia. So many times when she was fighting her disease, I just wanted to lie with her in bed just to forget the world. And those three words……I love you……they’re never enough.

    Reply
  8. Caroll Blein

    The song “Chasing Cars” by the group Snow Patrol is a beautiful and emotional ballad that can be interpreted in different ways, and its reflection can be quite ambiguous. On the one hand, it can be seen as a love song about two people who are so in love that they don’t care about anything else, not even the world around them. But if you give the ballad a literature review writing service/ analysis, professional writers see it as a song about the transience of life and how we should cherish every moment we spend with the people we love.

    Reply
  9. Cassandra Clare

    “Chasing Cars” is a popular song by the Northern Irish-Scottish alternative rock band, Snow Patrol. The track was released in 2006 as a part of their fourth studio album, “Eyes Open” and book review writing service here. It was written by the band’s lead vocalist Gary Lightbody and became one of their biggest hits, reaching the top ten in several countries. The song’s simple and emotional lyrics, accompanied by a gentle melody and the band’s trademark soaring chorus, have made it a popular choice for wedding ceremonies and romantic playlists.

    Reply
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  12. JoAnn Ianieri

    This song reminds me of my mom, who I lost in 2014. Her carefree nature in a life so constantly troubled always gave me hope. Her undying love of her children is something I aspire to everyday. I long for a chance to see her one more time, to just be together and enjoy the moment.

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    “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol beautifully captures the essence of life’s ambiguous nature, much like how Supplements pakistan offers various benefits that can be interpreted differently depending on individual needs and experiences.

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  15. Havi

    It’s fascinating how the song’s meaning shifts with age; like an online hesco bill, it both protects and adapts to the changing landscape of our emotions. “Chasing Cars” truly captures the evolving nature of love and hope.

    Reply
  16. james smith

    I found the name to this song last night and listened to it and couldn’t stop the tears from coming down my face.

    This song is a plea for something that really is running away betwewn his fingers. Love and life itself. The song in its sad key, is a plea for time to stop so nothing changes. That’s because he knows it’s going away. As a 63-year-old man, the spirit of this song touches me because it embodies something that can’t be spoken, the fleeting nature of life itself. .

    Reply
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    Chasing Cars reminds me of how pizzaslop can be, hitting different notes depending on your mood. Just like the song, a good pizza can be comforting or thrilling based on how you experience it.

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  18. tristan stubbs

    Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol beautifully captures the essence of longing and simplicity in love, resonating with the universal desire to pause time and cherish the moment with a loved one. PM Kisan Status

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  19. Kitod

    This reflection beautifully captures the evolving interpretation of “Chasing Cars” and its ambiguous nature, highlighting how a song’s meaning can change over time. Just as the lyrics can be open to interpretation, so can finding efficient ways to manage tasks like paying your FESCO bill online on Sahraii, making life a little easier.

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