Switchfoot – Company Car

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Mike, was right
When he said I'd put up a fight to be someone
A fight to be me
But see now
I'm down and under the pavement of capital hills
And lowercase people
As time rolls by my dreams have become
That which is attainable
Not what I'm looking for

I've got the company car
I'm the one swinging at two below par
Yeah, I've become one with the ones that I never believed in
But I've got the company car

Hey, I'm the king
Of things
I've always despised
I'm the gingerbread man that's been eaten alive
I'm half-baked
I'm fake
But see I've got hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk and 200 bucks
I pass go, but oh, life's taken it's toll
Have I won Monopoly, to forfeit my soul
But see

I've got the company car
I'm the one swinging at two below par
Yeah, I've become one with the ones that I've never believed in
But, I've got the company car, yeah

All the king's horses at the foot of the wall
They're taking pictures of the man who's lost all of his
Masks of pretension
He's got two faces left
His is the one that he hides
On the left behind that smile

Hiding tears
And fear
That burns like an engine
It drives him away from the ones that he loves
Mike was right, hey Mike!
We're one and the same
We're the faceless combatants in the loneliest game
Oh, but say
I'll wave as I'm drivin' by
With that smirk in my eye
Yelling, "Hey, I'm something man, check me out!"

Yeah, I've got the company car
I'm the one swingin' at two below par,
Yeah, I've become one with the ones that I never believed in
But, I've got the company car (I've got the)
Yeah, check me out
I've got the company car (I've got the)
Yeah, check me out
I've got the company car (I've got the)
Yeah

Send "Company Car" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by messymiss9

Track duration: 03:13


Company Car song meanings
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13 Comments

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  • 0
    Song Meaning:This song is speaks to how when Jon and the band started playing music and making it big in the industry, they did not want to conform to the corporate side of the music and become another number in the vicious cycle of mainstream media. He "put up a fight, a fight to be me" but slowly, as he was shaped by the industry, he became a "gingerbread man who got eaten alive," with gingerbread man referring to cookie-cutter, original artists getting eaten alive by the music industry. He refers to being "faceless combatants in the loneliest game," which speaks to the ruthlessness of making the corporate dollar and how if can result in "forfeiting your soul."
    Flag fpike17on December 04, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:there is a music video to this song. not many people know that :P
    Flag Graemelamonton December 11, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:anyone here notice it says "I''m the gingerbread mean that's got eaten alive"? i htink that basically sums up the song cause the gingerbread man thought NOBODY could catch him but he's the gingerbread man and he became what nobody nor himself thought he'd become....just putten that out there,,,
    Flag the_last_ssk_pirateon August 25, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:does anyone happen to know who "Mike" is?
    Flag josefon January 29, 2008   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General Comment:As time rolls by my dreams have become that which is attainable, not what I'm looking for...
    This guy wakes up and realizes he is setting his goals by what he knows for sure he is capable of, he isn't reaching for anything. He's become one with the ones that he's never belived in...he's becoming fake, just because he's got his company car...
    Flag antidisneysequelon December 07, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"Some songs are rewritten 43 times (take 'New Way To Be Human' for example); others seem to write themselves. This song wrote itself in about an hour. It is a caricature of the way I see L.A. Rich, fast talking executives drive around in sporty cars. You see them walk by smoking a Cuban cigar, and you wonder, 'What is their world like? What is life all about for them?' This is a cartoon of what that world looks like to me. This is my grandparents favorite song on the album, so it must be all right!"- Jon Foreman
    Flag ThisSettingSunon August 17, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Aren't the lyrics a little off?

    Anyways, a fun bit about this song- yesterday when I saw Switchfoot in concert and they played this song, Jon stopped in the middle of the "all the King's horses" part and said, "I'm sorry, but I just realized I rhymed left with left. I'm sorry." It was so cute! :p Switchfoot is amazing in concert.
    Flag PuNkMoNkEy113on June 25, 2006   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General Comment:It is:

    "Have I won Monopoly, to forfit my soul"

    I think that the meaning is pretty clear, we often strive so hard to obtain our WANTS, that those things sometimes take the place of things that we NEED, like our faith and our spirituality.

    It's also about how money alone isn't going to buy you happiness and that there has to be something more.
    Flag osubuckeye420on June 27, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:switchfoot is clearly adressing this problem of how people try to find hapiness in materialism and worldy possesions. more specifically, how hapiness isn't found just by succeeding in corporate america and making the buck.. hapiness lies elsewhere.
    Flag ubermunchieon January 10, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about someone who gets a job or promotion and realizes that he has become a tool. He's given up his ideals in his drive towards success and he realizes he's become like the people he despises.
    "Yeah I've become one with the ones that I never believed in"
    Flag Toineon November 10, 2004   Link

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