The lyrics to “Contact” appear to be lifted directly from the drivers’ education chapter in the Helping Friendly Book. Simple rules for any motorist to live by: “The tires are the things on your car that make contact with the road.” Keep that one rule in mind and one probably wouldn’t get into too much trouble navigating the road of life either. Curiously enough, the typical placement of the song in a setlist (late second set or commonly as an encore), and its placement as the final song on the original release of Junta, has throughout its history given the song an identity as a friendly post-show/end-of-party reminder. Keep those tires on the road and we will all live to see each other another day. 

Looking deeper into the song’s lyrics, and absorbing the sweetly simple, lullaby-like melody that pervades it, “Contact” takes on the guise of a well-crafted love song. The car that is the subject of the song very easily could be a metaphor for one’s partner in life. Taking into account the glowing headlights, the gleaming tailpipe, the tenacity for holding the road when things get tough; how could one go driving away and come back without them? 

"Contact – 6/23/00, Atlanta, GA

“Contact” has been played over one hundred fifty times since 1988, and notable versions include 7/15/91 and 7/21/91 (both with the Giant Country Horns), 5/21/94 where it includes a “Big Ball Jam," 8/16/97 (The Great Went), and the Mexican Love-style “Contact” on 7/28/98, dedicated to a happy couple by Trey. Common to a number of songs written by Mike Gordon, most people either love “Contact” or they hate it, and those who hate it perhaps don’t grasp the sublime universal truths it contains. For it is true: “Bummed is what you are when you go out to your car and it’s been towed!” This point was driven home with great force (especially to those who parked in the Target parking lot) by the extended 1/3/03 (Hampton) encore that featured stunning solos from both Page and Mike before concluding in “Tweezer Reprise.” 

Subsequent versions of “Contact” to date (with one exception) have also been included in multiple song encores (2/28/03, 7/17/03, 12/30/03, 3/8/09, and 6/6/09). The one exception (8/9/04) was played late in the second set and featured a "Little Drummer Boy" jam. The 12/30/03 Miami and 3/8/09 Hampton versions also included variations from the norm. In the former Trey quotes both "L.A. Woman" and "P. Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)" in place of his regular harmonies in reference to surprise covers of each played during the New Year's Eve run. The latter featured a "Happy Birthday" jam for Fish's dad, Leonard, who was celebrating with the band that night.

A portion of “Contact” was also featured during the band’s appearance (in Jarret’s Room) as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live (12/14/02). The song snippet was performed by the band as part of a recurring skit about a collegiate kine brah; in this episode, one of Jarret’s friends believed he had been run over by Chuck Norris (Trey). Al Gore, who hosted the show, played the role of one of Jarret’s professors during the skit, and was subsequently given a shout out by Trey during the aforementioned performance of “Contact” at Hampton.

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