Drive By | Train

What is the meaning and main idea of Train's Drive By song? What is the message the song tries to convey? Continue reading this article to find the answer. And for your reference, below is the lyric of the song.

Drive By - Train

On the other side of a street I knew
Stood a girl that looked like you
I guess that's deja vu
But I thought this can't be true
Cause you moved to west L.A or New York or Santa Fe
Or where ever to get away from me

Oh but that one night
Was more than just right
I didn't leave you cause I was all through
Oh I was overwhelmed and frankly scared as hell
Because I really fell for you

CHORUS
Oh I swear to ya
I'll be there for ya
This is not a drive by
Just a shy guy looking for a 2-ply
Hefty bag to hold my love
When you move me everything is groovy
They don't like it sue me
The way you do me
Oh I swear to ya
I'll be there for ya
This is not a drive by

On the other side of a downward spiral
My love for you went viral
And I loved you every mile you drove away
But now here you are again
So let's skip the "how you been"
And get down to the "more than friends" at last

Oh but that one night was still the highlight
I didn't need you until I came to
And I was overwhelmed and frankly scared as hell
Because I really fell for you

CHORUS

Please believe that when I leave
There's nothing up my sleeve but love for you
And a little time to get my head together too

On the other side of a street I knew
Stood a girl that looked like you
I guess that's deja vu
But I thought this can't be true
Cause...

CHORUS

Meaning, Main Idea and Message of The Song

Based on the complete lyric of the song above, I conclude that the song tells us about a man's excitement after he meets again with the girl he loves so much. Before the meeting, the girl intentionally gets away from him. Misunderstanding seems to be the reason for her to do that. One night, the man was with the girl. You know, when we are crushing on someone, we sometimes do something irrational. That's what the man did. When he was (able to be) with the girl she crushed on, he felt overwhelmed and scared as well. He couldn't overcome his own feeling. Therefore, he left her (perhaps) to calm his own feeling down. The result? The girl misunderstood what he did. She (maybe) thought that he was so rude. So, she began to hate him and started to get way from him. However, they meet again this night. Of course, the man is very excited.

Main Idea of Each Verse

This song consists of six verses with chorus part repeated three times and the first verse repeated twice. The song is opened with the verse telling about the man's experience of seeing someone who looks like the girl he loves. Initially he thought that this is just a deja vu since he knows that the girl has moved somewhere away (verse 1). But, it turns out that she is really the girl he falls for. It is known because the man says "now here you are again" (verse 4) which means that she has come back and therefore the girl he saw is really her.

So why did the girl try to get away from him? Well, that is because she misunderstood what the man did. He did left her. But he did this not because he was trying to avoid her or break her heart. He did this because he really fell for her. How can? Well, the feeling made him overwhelmed and scared (verse 2 and 5). So, he leaves her since he needs a little time to get her head together (verse 6).

Well, that's my interpretation of Train's Drive By song. What do you think?