The song seems to be about the connection, or lack thereof, between two individuals.
When can we say to get actually in touch with people? Never, I guess. There is always a sort of uncertainty, a doubt: has he/she really seen me, my inner me? As stated in the first verse of the song, such a question may be raised by an unexpected note, probably from a friend, somebody we really care about.
This leaves us vulnerable, unprotected, without our usual shelter, our “raincoat”. As in most of Stewart’s songs, the lyrics have a simple structure: two-line verses alternate with the refrain. The first two verses introduce the narrative, bringing us quickly to the core of the song, the refrain, which is made of four interrogatives.
In spite of the dialogic “you”, who is speaking seems to address such questions to himself.
It’s no coincidence that in the next two verses the speaker tries to convince himself of his talent for getting in touch with people, but here comes the refrain again, hence the doubt, the suspicion: have we really got contact? can we be what we need to one another?
In the following couple of verses there’s a further attempt to persuade himself he’s not alone: he knows a lot of people, his personal phone book is full of contacts, he has just to choose who to call. But doubts are raised again, inexorably.
The last verses, before returning to the last, fading refrain, are the same the song started with, which is a stylistic feature common in Stewart’s writing: the man seems to remain imprisoned in a circle from which there is no escape: the circle of his own doubts. Yes, I think Contact is a song about doubts. And, you know, only fools have no doubts.