I mean , come on, don't you all get it? I know a psychiatrist would. He's bipolar! isolation(dodging glances on the train, paranoia(I know they've all been talking 'bout me), emotional breakdown without cause (mood swings),depression(tomorrow may be good for something) mania,manic( hearing voices telling me that I should get some sleep)Psychosis(Talking to myself in public) Dementia-personality changes and more( from metabolic problems caused by bipolar disorder)...it is clear this is bipolar disorder through and through. How do I know? I'm a professional in this area.

my fav mb20 song..makes me sad though...cz it could easily describe someone i love...

I have a friend who is mentally ill. I am not sure if he is bipolar or if he just (well, not JUST, but you know) suffers from depression. I think it is really complicated because if you throw drinking and medication and/or drugs in the mix, there are so many layers and it is like a cluster fu@k situation. He may very well struggle with alcoholism. Then, say, he grapples with being a closet homosexual (and sometimes actually wishing he was a woman) and that complicates things even more. Then add the fact that we all have darker sides to our personality but he is letting his get the best of him. This song reminds me of him.

There are so many people who love him and care about him and want the best for him. Me included.

This song could be about many things as far as mental illness. A few years ago i checked myself in the hospital for drug abuse because it was tearing my life apart with my wife and children, While in the hospital i heard this song and broke down for three straight days because i couldnt believe I let something like a drug take over and consume my life and destroy my family. I knew i wasnt crazy and that this drug had made me " unwell" and that someday i would be the old me again the one that everyone loved not the new person that was created due to the drug use.

I think this song could be about a shy person who doesn't know how to express their feelings. "Stay a while and maybe then you'll see a different side of me." Once you get to know the person you will see their real self. "Out of all the hours thinking Somehow I've lost my mind." They have lots of great thoughts but don't speak them.

This song is about Crystal Meth. If you, like me, have more experience with this drug than good, you understand completely. I will explain it for those who do not know...

All day
Staring at the ceiling making
Friends with shadows on my wall
*When on Crystal Meth, you tend to just sit around for hours and hours 'tweaking' which more than often can lead to you sitting and looking at your wall pondering for hours straight. Time goes by quicker than you can imagine. About 18 hours in, the shadow people show up... You think you see something that isnt there. Its quite scary and entertaining at the same time*

All night
I'm hearing voices telling me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good
For something
*You cant sleep on meth. You hear voices when there are no other sound distracting you. Its easy to get depressed and feel like you are only good as a tweaker. Otherwise, you will just stay up all night and waste another day.*

Hold on
I'm feeling like I'm headed for a
Breakdown
I don't know why
*You feel like shit. Plain and simple. You feel like you are going to breakdown. It happens every time. Yet we still do it. We have no idea why. But we have to. As bad as it is, we still find some weird sort of joy in it*


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
*We know we arent insane. When off meth, we are normal. We are just unwell when we are on it. And you cant always tell when someone is tweaking unless you know them. So if you leave them to their devices and let them tweak and go to them on say, day 4 of being up straight and tweaking, you will see a side of them you never saw. They begin to get very... weird*

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
*Once a tweaker has crossed the threshold to being a tweaker, they are NEVER the same. They know what it is to tweak and always want it. When my friends first realized I was doing this, they didnt have much of a opinion. Then they saw me on it and wished for the old me. (Not my Tweaker friends)*

See me
Talking to myself in public
And dodging glances on the train
*On Meth, you HATE being in public. Comfortable environments are the name of the game. Friendly people who know whats up. I dread having to go out and get smokes or something while tweaking. Its horrible having to deal with people. You have no idea if your acting strange. It sucks. I never talked to myself but I know plenty who do*

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
*Paranoia. Classic symptom of tweaking. You think everyone knows your tweaking and are judging you. Hence the anti-social behavior. You think you hear them say things they dont actually say. Its all very interesting. And it makes you feel like a piece of shit tweaker. You laugh about it when sober (for those who actually do get sober)*

Out of all the hours thinking
Somehow
I've lost my mind
*You never sleep. You always think your going insane with the things you do and think about. Mostly about what you think you are hearing and seeing. I sometimes think Ive gone mad when I start seeing the shadow people. Conversations with said people confirm my fears.*

Talking in my sleep
Pretty soon they'll come to get me
They'll be taking me away
*Eventually it all feels like a dream. Your not really sleeping, but it feels like it. Your numb. The world around you has no influence. You are in your own world and nothing can harm you or save you. You always pass out before they come and get you. But Ive gotten damn close*

SO yeah, this is a tweaker song. Plain and simple, no way around it. I think Ive even heard Rob Thomas admit it. Any tweaker knows this for fact. People can think what they want about me. Im not a tweaker. I have a job and I hold it well. I have a relationship that is just fine. Ive been in the public spotlight (on the news, in films etc.) and still hold my own. Not to say that it couldn't happen or wont happen, but as of this writing, Im not crazy, Im just a little unwell.

This song is describing an acid trip. It has all the aspects of an intense trip, the visuals, "Staring at the ceiling making Friends with shadows on my wall", the insomnia, "All night I'm hearing voices telling me That I should get some sleep Because tomorrow might be good For something", and the extreme paranoia, "dodging glances on the train, I know, I know they've all been talking 'bout me I can hear them whisper".
The chorus is tyhe most convincing part in my opinion though. "I know right now you can't tell, But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see A different side of me", "I know right now you don't care But soon enough you're gonna think of me And how I used to be", these parts of the chorus shows how LSD brings out a different side of people and shows them a new perspective on life. The second one also describes how people may look at a person changed by LSD. And lastly the repeating "I'm not crazy, im just a little unwell/impaired", shows how a person feels and looks insane while tripping but will come back to reality once it is over. That's my two cents, if you don't believe me, take some acid and you will.

I love this song. It's definitely about Paranoia and it's so good because it has 'both' sides in it.
The self description of what is happening to him, that is necessary to realize that he really has a problem. And the chorus. If you're at the edge of loosing you're mind, it's often because of anxiety things and everything inside the chorus is what helps to actually remind himself of the different side of him, when he's well. With that he can let go a bit of his anxiety and can actually get better.
But after the chorus, the realistic self-view that he's really not so well, sneaks in again.
This realist is actually not realist, because that's the voice that keeps him down and he tries to push himself out of this miserable state again. The trick and the whole problem with getting out is that he needs to be aware of his situation, yet make a 'hopeful' lie to actually get better. This song describes the dilemma very well.

1 Reply

I think this song could be referring to the artist's life. Not necessisarily a mental illness, though that makes sense.

"All day
Staring at the ceiling making
Friends with shadows on my wall"
^^could refer to the point that a lot of celebraties cant make any new friends because most people would just want to be friends with a famous person.


"All night
I'm hearing voices telling me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good
For something"
^^could refer to his agents or producers or someone but its so common that they have become just 'voices'

the breakdown line could just simply be that he is just so wrought up with the stress of life that its finally catching up with him.

'im not crazy...how i used to be'
^^the stress is altering him somehow or his producers/agents/whoever is making him do things that he doesnt want to do, so he's saying that if the person stays, they will see that he himself hasnt changed.

"See me
Talking to myself in public"
^^'talking' to himself doesnt have to mean verbally. he could be debating things in his head about the situation and possibly mumbling a few things along his train of thought. that doesnt signify mental illness, just confusion or frustration.

"And dodging glances on the train
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"
^^he's famous. people are bound to recognize him. and he starts wondering if maybe its not good gossip...

"Out of all the hours thinking
Somehow
I've lost my mind"
^^the stress is finally building up and he's ready to burst.

"Talking in my sleep
Pretty soon they'll come to get me
They'll be taking me away"
^^talking in his sleep could just be mumbling how he misses the person hes telling to stay. but his agent/producer/whoever notices this and recognizes it as a threat, so plans on moving out of that location to avoid ruining the 'look' they have of him.



well there it is. im not saying thats what it means, but i think it makes sense. thanks for reading my idea =D

I love this song. I can relate to it (I'm not sure if that's a good thing...) I think it's about someone who feels selfconscious and like he's going crazy.

Oh my goodness...I love this song so much. It is definitely one of my favorite songs ever. I always felt like the song was talking about someone who acts weirdly, but is really a pretty nice person.

My favorite line(s):"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 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"

It's just so emotional and deep.

No jus 4 every1's info of what this song is about is about being on dope not weed or ne of that jus ice,crank,or any other form of meth. I mean he is paranoid, seeing shadows, can't sleep at night, bein so paranoid in public havin 2 dodge glances from every1, talking to himself. I'm sorry but there is no mental illness here its dope.

No jus 4 every1's info of what this song is about is about being on dope not weed or ne of that jus ice,crank,or any other form of meth. I mean he is paranoid, seeing shadows, can't sleep at night, bein so paranoid in public havin 2 dodge glances from every1, talking to himself. I'm sorry but there is no mental illness here its dope.

I think this song shows just how misunderstood this person feels; that no one is able to understand him. Describing how society can be so judgemental and impatient in labelling someone quickly as 'crazy' or a 'weirdo'. (based on what they see on the outside) How he feels trapped by those labels. How it all feels like a self-prophecy - everyone calling him crazy... kind of actually drove him 'crazy'. Now he wants to declare - declare that he is not really 'crazy' at all, that it's all a construct, it's all a consequence of society's close-mindedness, labelling, and rigid adherence to conformity.

It seems to me that this song has many meanings: One could interprete it as a song about a relationship where one of them is having a hard time with life and causing a strain in the relationship, and is simply explaining to their significant other that while they're going through a hard time mentally, they're not crazy and is asking the person to stick it out with them and be there for them to see that while they're depressed and impaired, possibly doing drugs to deal with the depression that there is a different side of them and while they might not care to why they're doing drugs to repress their pain if they leave eventually they're going to regret leaving and they're going to think about how that person used to be when they were themselves. Or it could be his way of dealing with his stardom and how it has made him isolated to the world and has caused depression in his life he's explaining while he has the microscope on him there's a different side to him than what he's feeling at that period of time. but it's art and truly the only person who knows the exact meaning of the song is Rob Thomas and what he was feeling while he wrote it. As well its like many of Matchbox 20 songs that can be interpreted differently by many people to what they're going through which has made them successful and popular with many teenagers-young adults.

I personally think it's about a drug addiction; After all, Rob Thomas DID get mixed up with drugs shortly after their first CD went big.

at a concert in atl rob thomas said that everybody in the world is messed up and that there are two kinds of ppl,the ppl who are ok and ppl the who try to hide. this song is for the ones who are ok with it.

Same for me, 'Unwell', Not so much this week, but earlier on. Especially a few months ago. I would listen to this song and it just hit something inside me, because it was Exactly how i felt. It was my theme song. Your depressed and you have random breakdowns. You think that everyone is staring at you and judging you. In the hallways I always give people strange looks because I feel they are staring at me as they pass. My point is, its a great song. Hits the nail on the depression head.

this song actually describes perfectly how you feel when you're depressed, you are afraid that people think you're crazy and don't want to be with you. But it also say's "but stay "But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me" that shows that like all illnesses, you will feel better again in time. I am suffering from depression myself and this song always meant so much to me, because it describes how I feel and gives me hope that I will be better some day

paranoia.

I also think maybe that it describes how our imagination and reality can get distorted together, and everybody goes through that

Being in recovery from drugs and alcohol, It means to me that I don't feel right with the world, and it doesn't show on the outside. I feel like I am totally crazy, but I'm not, I'm just a little unwell and you can't tell.

The people who have seen me go from normal to screwed up may have reservations about me, but if they hang around me, they see the old me surface again, the one they hung around and liked.

Sometimes I think everyone is looking at me, when in reality they are not; sometimes I feel like I am heading for a breakdown, when I am just feeling sad and don't know how to deal with it.

I sometimes wonder if bent and unwell are recovery related or if it's just accidental .... or if the same struggles I have with life are the same ones everyone else have, I just used drugs and alcohol to cope.

I'm not as nuts as I think I am

about a mental illness..
not about being in love you freaks

I agree with many of you. I think that others see this person as crazy or having an illness, when really he is just suffering from something like loss of a love, or longing to be with the one he loves. He knows that he is not crazy and he is trying to convince others of this.

honestly i dont think this has anything to do with love. in my opinion it tells the story of a lonely man who is quite paranoid. He seems creepy to everyone around him only because he doesnt like being in public for the paranoia drives him insane. it creates false ideas in his head that everyone is out to get him. Then because of this he acts fairly strange in public places creating a never ending cycle. But since everyone today just goes by initial glance of a person rather than getting to know them. he seems very lonely and is looking for some friends.