"The Unwinding Cable Car" is the second single from alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Anberlin

Anberlin

Anberlin is an American rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band has consisted of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, and drummer Nathan Young.Members of Anberlin originally formed...

's third album Cities

Cities (Anberlin album)

- Special-edition bonus tracks :These tracks are also included in the compilation album "Lost Songs"* Special Edition version includes a DVD behind the scenes of the making of Cities.The album released in Japan had an extra track titled "The Haunting."...

. It is the band's first "slower" song released as a single. The video has been released and has received over 270,000 views. The song appeared in the opening of the 2008 film House

House (2008 film)

House is a 2008 Polish/United States horror film, directed by Robby Henson, starring Reynaldo Rosales, Heidi Dippold and Michael Madsen. It is based on the novel of the same name by Frank E. Peretti and Ted Dekker. It covers the events that take place one night in an old, rustic inn in Alabama,...

, which was based on the book by Christian fiction authors Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker

Ted Dekker

Ted Dekker is a New York Times best-selling Christian author best known for mystery and thriller novels, though he has also made a name for himself among fantasy fans. Early in his career he wrote a number of books that would best be categorized as Religious thrillers...

.

Music

Lead vocalist and songwriter Stephen Christian

Stephen Christian

Stephen Christian is the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Anberlin and his side-project Anchor & Braille. He and his bandmates started Anberlin in 2002, after the demise of their previous group, known as SaGoh 24/7...

 stated before playing "The Unwinding Cable Car" on AOL Sessions Under Cover that the song was originally meant to be "a segue

Segue

A segue is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next.-In music:In music, segue is a direction to the performer. It means continue without a pause. It comes from the Italian "it follows". The term attacca is also used in classical music.For written music it implies a transition...

between two songs on the record, but me and [guitarist Joseph Milligan] liked it so much that we just turned it into an entire song".

It is the one of the band's only slower songs released as a radio single. In an interview, Stephen Christian described the song as a person who looked into the future, and saw that they were never content with the present.

Lyrics

Emotive unstable. You’re like an unwinding cable car. Listening for voices, but it’s the choices that make us who we are. Go your own way. Even seasons have changed. Just burn those new leaves over. So self-absorbed, you’ve seemed to ignore the prayers that have already come about. This is the correlation between salvation and love. Don’t drop your arms. I’ll guard your heart. With quiet words I’ll lead you in. Backing away from the problem of pain. You never had a home. You’ve been misguided. You’re hiding in shadows. For so very long. Don’t you believe that you’ve been deceived? That you’re no better than... The hair in your eyes, it never disguised what you’re really thinking of. This is the correlation of salvation and love. Don’t drop your arms. I’ll guard your heart. With quiet words I’ll lead you in. You’re so brilliant. Don’t soon forget. You’re so brilliant. Grace marked your heart. This is the correlation between salvation and love. Don’t drop your arms. I’ll guard your heart. With quiet words I’ll lead you in and out of the dark. Don’t drop your arms. This is the correlation of salvation and love. Don’t drop your arms. I’ll guard your heart. With quiet words I’ll lead you in.

© 2007 Tooth & Nail Records, "Cities" Digital Booklet

Video

The music video for "The Unwinding Cable Car" shows various footage of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There are also several quick single shots showing each band member looking at the camera or playing instruments. There is also an unnamed man that appears in many parts of the video looking sad and broken.