All day staring at the ceiling
Making friends with shadows on my wall
All night hearing voices telling me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good for something

Hold on
Feeling like I'm headed for a breakdown
And I don't know why

But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be, me

I'm talking to myself in public
Dodging glances on the train
And I know, I know they've all been talking 'bout me
I can hear them whisper
And it makes me think there must be something wrong with me
Out of all the hours thinking
Somehow I've lost my mind

But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be

I've been talking in my sleep
Pretty soon they'll come to get me
Yeah, they're taking me away

Yeah, I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be

Hey, how I used to be
How I used to be
Well, I'm just a little unwell
How I used to be
How I used to be
I'm just a little unwell


Lyrics submitted by ruben

Unwell Lyrics as written by Robert Thomas

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Unwell song meanings
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166 Comments

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  • +14
    General Comment

    This is a person struggling with a mental illness. When he stares at the ceiling all day, he is describing depression. He wants to let you know that just because he is sick doesn't mean he is crazy. Have you seen the video? He's not crazy but his surroundings are. It is like the way the world looks to him at the moment. But, he knows that it won't always look that way. If you just stay awhile you will see him when he is well. To me, it is a very hopeful song. He is trying to break down misconceptions about what is "crazy". This is not the only song he has about mental illness. I also like "Mad Season".

    insect1123on June 25, 2003   Link
  • +6
    General Comment

    definately about mental illness.living in your mind the point where nothing appears real.

    kaatrienon June 28, 2003   Link
  • +5
    My Opinion

    This has been my favorite song since I was in 5th grade, I am now a senior in highschool and I still find meaning and strength in the lyrics of this song and it is still one of my favorites. To me this song is being sung from the point of view of a male character who is surrounded by people who don’t understand him, and people that he does not understand. He tries to make connections with people but no one sticks around long enough to get close because they are put off by his personality or physical looks. I relate to this because in middle school, when this song was most important to me, I was not understood as a person. People made fun of me because I had not hit a growth spurt yet and I was overweight, my personality was different and I was not afraid to hide who I was, so people stayed away from me and I had no friends. To me the character in this song is saying something that I understood.

    “But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell I know right now you can't tell But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see A different side of me”

    In this verse of the chorus the singer is saying that he might seem odd, but if you stick around and attempt to understand him you might actually like him and realise that he is not odd or crazy. He is owning up to the fact that he is different, and he makes no attempt to hide it just because it weirds people out. He also sings about how people's reactions and opinions about you can shape your opinion about yourself.

    “I'm talking to myself in public Dodging glances on the train And I know, I know they've all been talking about me I can hear them whisper And it makes me think there must be something wrong with me”

    In this verse he is expressing how he hears people's opinions about him so much that starts to believe what they are saying. This is meaningful to me because I went through that, hearing this song helped me understand that I was not the only one with these opinions about myself. In the video of this song everything around him is odd and disfigured which shows that everyone was just as odd to him as he was to them. He is explaining that no one is crazy, we are all just a little unwell, a little off. If someone stuck around us long enough to form a connection with them we realise that their are odd parts about ourselves that match the odd parts about them.

    aryn emaleon May 26, 2015   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    rob thomas said that this song described his paranoia. this song is awesome, i love it.

    pUnKeR_gIrL44on July 03, 2003   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I know this may not be the actual meaning, but this is how I relate to it...my husband was in Iraq for 8 months at the beginning of the war. I talked to him 7 or 8 times and recieved maybe 10 letters in those 8 months. I felt like I was losing it. I couldn't concentrate, smile, sleep, eat, etc. I was miserable, I didn't know if I would ever see him again. I felt crazy, unwell. Even though I wasn't medically crazy, I felt it . And No one really knew what I felt they weren't me..."I'm not crazy I'm just a little unwell I know right now you can't tell But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see A different side of me "

    MeShellon May 13, 2004   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    To me, the song is just talking about feeling like you're losing control. I've just gotten out of 3 year relationship, and its how I feel. People talking about you, thinking you don't know, and trying to convince you that you're perfectly fine, you trying to convince yourself, and knowing that you're not. And you're trying to tell people that you're NOT fine, but its ok, because you don't have to be perfect all the time.

    Pinkaton June 17, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    this song seems to be about bipolar...the highs and lows.

    jj_jellybeanon December 08, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Rob has said in concerts about this song:

    "There are 2 kinds of people in the world. The people who are fvcked up and don't know it, and the people who are fvcked up and are well aware of it. This song is about being well aware of it."

    GaynorGirlon January 08, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    frist time i herd this it made me think it was about schizophrenia, and if u know anyoen with it u'l understand y, there not crazy, jus a lil unwell, depsite ppl lookin at them etc, and paranoia is part of it all, a great tune!

    hunnybee4uon August 10, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I have OCD, Paranoia, and Depression, so this song means a great deal to me. its about feeling like your crazy and fucked up because everyone around you is judging you badly.

    Hereticmanon October 13, 2005   Link

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