Download "3 AM"

3 AM by Matchbox Twenty

Release Date
Sun Nov 23 1997
Performed by
Matchbox Twenty
Produced by
Matt Serletic
Writed by
Rob Thomas & Brian Yale & John Leslie Goff
About

3 AM is written from the perspective of a 12 or 13 year old Rob Thomas, whose mom has cancer. It is about her reaction to the cancer and how he processed and dealt with the entire situation.

He describes at the beginning of the video below:

3 AM Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Well, she said, "It's cold outside" and she hands me my raincoat
She's always worried 'bout things like that
Well, she said, "It's all gonna end and it might as well be my fault"

[Pre-Chorus]
And she only sleeps when it's rainin'
And she screams and her voice is strainin'

[Chorus]
And she says, "Baby
It's 3 AM, I must be lonely"
When she says, "Baby
Well, I can't help but be scared of it all sometimes
And the rain's gonna wash away, I believe it"

[Verse 2]
Well, she's got a little bit of somethin' and, God, it's better than nothin'
And in her color portrait world, she believes that she's got it all, oh
She swears the Moon don't hang quite as high as it used to

[Pre-Chorus]
And she only sleeps when it's rainin'
And she screams (And she screams) and her voice is strainin'

[Chorus]
And she says, "Baby
When it's 3 AM, I must be lonely"
Well, yeah, when she says, "Baby," ah yeah, yeah
"Well, I can't help but be scared of it all sometimes
And the rain's gonna wash away, I believe, yes"

[Bridge]
Well, she believes that life isn't made up of all that you're used to
And the clock on the wall has been stuck at three for days and days
She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway, yeah
But outside, it's stopped rainin'

[Chorus]
Yeah, but she says, "Baby
Well, it's 3 AM, I must be lonely"
Yeah, when she says, "Baby," ah yeah, yeah
"Well, I can't help but be scared of it all sometimes
And the rain's gonna wash away, I believe this
Well, it's 3 AM, I must be lonely" (I must be lonely)
Well, yeah, when she says, "Baby
Well, I can't help but be scared of it all sometimes"

3 AM Q&A

Who wrote 3 AM's ?

3 AM was written by Rob Thomas & Brian Yale & John Leslie Goff.

Who produced 3 AM's ?

3 AM was produced by Matt Serletic.

When did Matchbox Twenty release 3 AM?

Matchbox Twenty released 3 AM on Sun Nov 23 1997.

How did this song come about?

I wrote it while I was working in a boat place. I used to deliver and clean boats in a boatyard. I had a lot of free time to sit around and come up with songs. I think I’d written the entire song while sweeping and cleaning.

Why does Rob often begin lines with "She said"?

I don’t know what it was about the ‘90s, but there was a lot of lyrics. I’m very percussive, I think. I was fancying myself a bit like Paul Simon. You try to find some mundane thing. There was a lot of “she said” in my first record, too. A lot of time, I think it was because I was trying to write th...

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How does Rob feel about "3AM?"

All of my assessment of a song like this now comes from 20 years of looking back and going, “Oh, that’s what I must’ve meant.” Looking into my psyche like I was therapizing myself. At the time, I was not savvy enough to say, “I’m going to write this metaphor.” You look back and go, “OK, that’s where...

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How does Rob explain the tenderness with which he sings to his mother?

There’s this thing where you start to see your parents as a you that just got older. And you can see the vulnerability in them. As full of crack-fuckery as my mom could be at times, she was the anchor. She was the one you looked for to move you through. In our family, it was a little different. My s...

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How did the music for this song come about?

“3AM” was the first song I ever wrote that I liked. When I wrote it, it was a piano ballad. It just kept getting faster and faster. Then for us to want to compete with the times, we created it into a song that sounded like what was happening.

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