Lyrics for Unwell as interpreted by ruben

Unwell Lyrics
All day
Staring at the ceiling making
Friends with shadows on my wall
All night
I'm hearing voices telling me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good
For something

Hold on
I'm feeling like I'm headed for a
Breakdown
I don't know why

(chorus)
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

See me
Talking to myself in public
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

Out of all the hours thinking
Somehow
I've lost my mind

(chorus)

Talking in my sleep
Pretty soon they'll come to get me
They'll be taking me away

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mijois
11-01-2006

Rated 0 
I really like this song... when I'm feeling low, out of control, disappointed... this is what I want to play for people... and hearing this song just makes me feel better! I'm just a little unwell... OK!

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q1001001
12-15-2006

Rated 0 
For me, this song perfectly describes what a person might go through with Lyme disease.

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River Wolf
01-04-2007

Rated 0 
Normally I don't listen to Matchbox, but I love this song tons.

Never have I encountered such honest lyrics which portray loneliness, uncertainty, paranoia, and sadness so accurately. The character in this song is worried because in all their hope and despair, no one seems to be reaching out to help them.

This song can beautifully help out so many people, because so many do go into this situation where there in trouble and it feels like they're cut off from the world and not getting help from anyone

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derek808
01-07-2007

Rated 0 
This is true, many people could be helped not only by this song but by many others as well. A lot of the time people dont pay enough attention the messages in songs and how they relate to them...

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Utgard Loki
01-15-2007

Rated 0 
To me, it sounds as though he's suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Hearing voices, believing others are talking about him, "making friends with shadows on the wall", as well as denying that there is anything wrong with him are all symptoms of this illness.

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derek808
01-31-2007

Rated 0 
It just occurred to me, and this may be way outta left field but suppose, just suppose, that this song could be used as a les motif for Hannibal Lecter. Anyone?

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Jammer631
02-11-2007

Rated 0 
I don't know if Rob Thomas has bipolar disorder or not, but all those emotions that are described totally relate to the illness. I am not crazy, just a little unwell. That very well could relate to the stigma in society. Society still labels people with mental illness and this song states that the individual isn't crazy, just a little unwell

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2bored2think
02-26-2007

Rated 0 
this song to me is about a peson just dealing with a hard life just trying to get though a hard time

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americaneaglechick
02-27-2007

Rated 0 
kinda explains the way i feel most of the time,,,huh,funny how music is aint it??

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Bright Eyes87
03-24-2007

Rated 0 
The song is about depression, and most likely Bipolar also known as manic depressive. "But stay a while and maybe then you'll see a different side of me" That is bipolar, and to clarify, the other side is not necessarily the better side. But the part that makes me feel better--"because tomorrow MIGHT be good for something".

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boredperson24
04-03-2007

Rated 0 
as a person that is often depressed, i'll explain what this song means to me

All day
Staring at the ceiling making
Friends with shadows on my wall
(i don't have a lot of friends so i make friends with whatever i can)
All night
I'm hearing voices telling me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good
For something
(i often stay up late at night for some reason and i keep telling myself that i should get some sleep because tomorrow might be a good day)

Hold on
I'm feeling like I'm headed for a
Breakdown
I don't know why
(this could mean a nervous or an emotional break down where you just want to cry and have the world stop so you can think and figure things out)

(chorus)
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 might seem a little crazy, but there is more to me than what there seems)

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
(you might not care that i'm having issues but sooner or later you'll remember the old me and wonder what happened)

See me
Talking to myself in public
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
(im worried that people are saying mean things to me behind my back so i try to avoid looking and talking to people)

Out of all the hours thinking
Somehow
I've lost my mind
(i've heard that its just in my imagination that people are making fun of me so many times that i just start to beleave it myself)

Talking in my sleep
Pretty soon they'll come to get me
They'll be taking me away
(i have no idea what this line is about)

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mymusick86
04-30-2007

Rated 0 
In the video his shirt says 'Love Me' in bold print with dripping paint. I think this is about the lonely and crazy things that u do when u are missing, or out of touch with someone thats close to you. you dont want anyone else. sounds like hes trying to explain that hes not crazy, hes just feeling the effects of love and they overwhelmed him and in the end he's gonna be okay like he used to be. Even with all the girls talking about him he still loves that one girl and thinks that maybe its something wrong w/ him, but its not. He's thought about her alot.... he thinks hes lost his mind. pretty soon his dreams will come to relieve him from it.

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white_stone_3
05-11-2007

Rated 0 
I thin kthis song could be describing depression orit could be describing things he sees like writer do, but whenever he tells some one they colour him crzy lol but its probably the first one due to relationship, but thats what u all say so im trying to spin things up

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kls
05-14-2007

Rated 0 
This song is just a reminder to people: it's okay to be a fucked up every now and again.

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kls
05-14-2007

Rated 0 
'be a little fucked up' i mean

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Code Monkey
06-06-2007

Rated 0 
Yes, he seems to be lapsing into insanity, but slowly, and he can watch himself slip, and fall, and he is powerless to stop it. That's what it means to me. A lot of people have said this isn't this the case, but my opinion's as good as theirs =]

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antz23
07-11-2007

Rated 0 
I agree with everyone that says this song was written about a love affair that went sour. Depression is sometimes a feeling we feel after realizing someone doesn't feel the same way for us as we felt for them. Sometimes people do crazy things and feel somewhat crazy when they give a piece of themselves to someone else and do not feel like they get a little back in return. I think after a person is broken up with their self esteem is hurt and they can feel paranoid that people are talking about them or something is wrong with them.
He feels like he is headed for a break down because the foundation he has laid with someone has fallen apart and he just wants everything to be simple again. He wants the girl back and he is going through the processes throughout the song realizing that its not going to be that way anymore.
He knows that he is not the total cause for the breakdown, but when a person is left alone its hard to see that. When he talks about "hearing voices" he is simply saying that he should not sit up and think about what went wrong but go to sleep and tackle the next day.
"Out of all the hours thinking, somehow I've lost my mind" means I know I need to suck it up and deal with my lost and move on from it. He realizes that if he satys in this "depression" he may very well end up crazy. And as we all have been told time and again, he's not crazy just a little unwell. It takes time to get over a relationship and be how we used to be.

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EpicFaggotory
08-09-2007

Rated 0 
I agree with Ink on Fabric. It does sound like it relates to schizophrenia, but it might also relate to the other mental disorders stated.

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ninth_lady
09-16-2007

Rated 0 
The singer is suffering from a mental disorder.

He realizes that he isn't the same as those around him, which worries him. He is trying hard to communicate to the people around him that while he is 'unwell,' he is not crazy like they all think he is.

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kdcobain187
10-18-2007

Rated 0 
'Unwell' truely captures an inside experience of a person suffering from BiPolar or Schizophrenia. I know this all too well because my older brother has been struggling with both of them for over 5 years. In the process of getting treatment, he treated the mother of his 2 children in a very unconsistant way. He was very moody and it was very hard for him to understand 'why him'. He just could not understand why he would have these episodes. The part where he sings "stay a while and maybe then you'll see a different side of me" breaks my heart to pieces because my brother's girlfriend did not stay through his treatment. She still does think about how he used to be and I don't think she has ever gotten over him. I love this song, but I hate it all at the same time. Nobody truly understands this song until they have watched somebody that they love with all of their heart suffer from these diseases and watch their mind slowly slip away, and watch them lose everything they have. It has taken years for him to get the right treatment and he will never get those years back. But this song is right... he's not crazy, he's just a little unwell.

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strangersatellite
11-01-2007

Rated 0 
It could most definitely be about mental illness, schizophrenia or bipolar, or it could just be about how everyone once in a while feels low, depressed, and like crap. And you feel like you're at the breaking point. You aren't crazy or insane though.

All night
I'm hearing voices telling me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good
For something

That part reminds me of insomnia.

In general though I think he's telling someone who wants to get involved with him that he may seem ok on the surface but if they stick around for a while they'll see how messed u he is and then they'll miss how he was before they knew how he really is. Reminds me of 11th grade. Anyway great song. Very relatable.

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nymphetamine22
11-05-2007

Rated 0 
This song makes so much sense to me. I was recently diagnosed as schizophrenic, and this song describes how I feel most of the time.

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3lancer
11-06-2007

Rated 0 
To me this hits home really accurately under the following interpretation: it's about a guy who's so taken aback by a girl that he finds it impossible to act like himself around her. She thinks he's crazy because he's so into her that he does stupid and irrational things, but really it's just that he loves her so much.

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borndancr
11-08-2007

Rated 0 
I was curious to read the many different interpretations for this song. However this might be an extreme comparison of two different types of media, however when I heard this song I was reading the book "1984" by George Orwell. I could not believe the uncanny irony between the lyrics and the song. First- the song title Unwell (Easily to be related with the language Newspeak in the book) Secondly- The lyrics describe how the guy is going crazy because people are staring at him- Orwell gives the same imagery with his character by instilling the "big brother" uneasiness that everyone is watching him because he has such rebellious thoughts... and Lastly- the most ironic link in my opinion- is that the lyrics say
"Talking in my sleep
Pretty soon they'll come to get me
They'll be taking me away"
This is so ridiculously ironic because Orwell describes the uneasiness of getting caught for speaking out your thoughts when you're sleeping. I could not see a better link! I wrote a paper on this my junior year of high school. Just one analysis of the song ;)

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XxEv.fanaticxX
11-19-2007

Rated 0 
wow- u guys all have great theories on what this song could mean... they all fit well and... yer- this song is so kewl- i think it relates to all of us once in a while- me, coz i am really shy at school and when people look at me i feel totally embarrassed coz i dont know why they r all lookin at me... but then at home i am totally different (but stay a while and maybe then youll c a different side of me)- i wish all my friends knew the different sides of me... :( rob thomas is so hot and matchbox 20 rox!

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