What about the night makes you change
From sweet to deranged
What about my voice tells you
Who’s been wrong to you

You’ve got pains
Like an addict
I’m Leaving You
You’ve got pains
Like an addict
10 A.M. automatic

I see darkness cover us
And your car kicks up dust
What about my ways makes you doubt
All these words from my mouth

You’ve got pains
Like an addict
I’m Leaving You
You’ve got pains
Like an addict
10 A.M. automatic



Lyrics submitted by katie-s

Track duration: 02:59


10 A.M. Automatic song meanings
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21 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment:He is with a girl who doesn't trust him. He says "what about my ways make you doubt.." She has no faith he is true to her. Even the riffs are aggressive. "What about the night makes you change from sweet to derranged.." they are OK together but then she flips out and accuses him of not being there for her. "Who's been wrong to you?" he's asking her what happened in your past turned you this insecure. "Pains like an addict." ..She is addicted to unhealthy untrusting relationships. "Car kicks up dust.." she leaves him, runs away often, torn by mistrust. He can't handle her manic ways so he is "leaving you" leaving her. Kind of sad. My favorite Keys song, though.
    Flag 10AMautomaticon February 17, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:He is with a girl who doesn't trust him. He says "what about my ways make you doubt.." She has no faith he is true to her. Even the riffs are aggressive. "What about the night makes you change from sweet to derranged.." they are OK together but then she flips out and accuses him of not being there for her. "Who's been wrong to you?" he's asking her what happened in your past turned you this insecure. "Pains like an addict." ..She is addicted to unhealthy untrusting relationships. "Car kicks up dust.." she leaves him, runs away often, torn by mistrust. He can't handle her manic ways so he is "leaving you" leaving her. Kind of sad. My favorite Keys song, though.
    Flag 10AMautomaticon February 17, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:He is with a girl who doesn't trust him. He says "what about my ways make you doubt.." She has no faith he is true to her. Even the riffs are aggressive. "What about the night makes you change from sweet to derranged.." they are OK together but then she flips out and accuses him of not being there for her. "Who's been wrong to you?" he's asking her what happened in your past turned you this insecure. "Pains like an addict." ..She is addicted to unhealthy untrusting relationships. "Car kicks up dust.." she leaves him, runs away often, torn by mistrust. He can't handle her manic ways so he is "leaving you" leaving her. Kind of sad. My favorite Keys song, though.
    Flag 10AMautomaticon February 17, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:hes leaving her 10 am - automatic
    Flag likestuneson September 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Love love the guitar solo in this song.
    Flag goodraton May 15, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:SWEET song.

    It PAINS ME to know that still most people have no idea who these guys are. Seriously, these guys rock. This song is no exception. How this song didn't come a hit, I have no clue, but I get the satisfaction of knowing one more good song than everybody else.

    It's got the catchy riff, and Auerbach really has a cool voice. It's just straight-blues rock, nothing fancy. But you gotta love the short guitar solo at the end. These guys sound like they record in a tire factory. And they do. Mega props.

    These guys and the White Stripes are bringing back Zeppelin-era blues rock, one song at a time.
    Flag T_Capon September 02, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:fuking love the shit out of this song./
    Flag Fox_houndon July 01, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I admit I used to think he was saying:
    "youve got pains like an addict
    Telling me I'm gonna marry you"
    Even though the song is called 10 AM Automatic and my line about marriage seems out of place I seriously couldnt connect the dots and never had any idea why the song was called 10 Am automatic
    Flag Shep420on May 23, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:“10 A.M. Automatic” by The Black Keys
    Sex? No
    Drugs? No
    Rock and Roll? Yes!
    What does it tell me? That rock music can be funky without a bass!
    Reminds me of: Driving around in my mom’s minivan as a senior and then a high school graduate high as a motherfucker; a fight scene; dancing while smoking a cigarette and looking like a greaser in blue jeans, a white undershirt, a black leather jacket, greasy gelled dark hair and a dark pair of shades
    From the opening riff, this is a hard driving song with a stressed beat and even more stressed out vocals. Lyrics like “What about the night makes you change/ All from sweet to deranged” and “You’ve got pains like an addict/ I’m leaving you” are powerful, disturbing, and surprisingly danceable. We are encouraged to shake our tail-feather every damn time we hear an “uh” or “yeah” in between lyrics. The song is three minutes long but goes by in one fell swoop, like a tornado coming out of nowhere and disappearing minutes later, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The trippy guitar work at the end of the song brings in a cool stoner vibe into an already cool straightforward blues number. I haven't heard this much energy and excitement in a modern blues band since the White Stripes, whose name alone compliments the Black Keys perfectly. But this is something funkier than the White Stripes could ever do; even funkier than the “My Doorbell”, this is a barnburner on cocaine. The singing is moaning verging on shouting, and while the lyrics are good in their own right, both commanding and inquisitive, and the music could make a mighty instrumental, the singing is what ties the two together. These words are expressed in a way that a whistle-blower might express dissatisfaction with the way his employers handle business, leaving the vocal chord in shreds in a soulful barrage of questions and revelations. When he shouts “10 A.M. automatic”, I’m not sure what he’s referring to, but I know it’s the cause of so much pain, and therefore am right along with the narrator in being against it. Some of the lines I ignore because I don’t get them- “what about my voice tells you / Who’s been wrong to you” – I guess he’s saying he’s been wrong to her? I thought she was the deranged one and wronging him? I guess it’s the fault of both of them the relationship isn’t working, but this isn’t clearly put. The meaning of the song being cryptic, knowing only it’s about a dysfunctional relationship that isn’t going anywhere, I can place it subjectively into parts of my life that make this song mine. The parts of the song with lyrics I don’t apply to myself, well, I can still rock out to them. And that’s what a great song will let me do.
    Quoteables:
    “What about the night makes you change / All from sweet to deranged”
    Appealing to the night owl in me, this is an ambiguous line that puts to words how I feel by not explaining too much, just observing the basic facts.
    “You’ve got pains/ Like an addict”
    Another ambiguous line that I can take to heart while not thinking too deep into it; I just feel it to understand it.
    Not sure what he’s saying but either way it’s awesome:
    “What about my weight makes you down”
    A play on words that suggests I could just naturally be too heavy for some people, and it brings them down
    “What about my ways makes you doubt / All these words from my mouth”
    The nervousness you get when you listen to someone say something as they show you the opposite…is it a lie? A contradiction? Are you bullshitting me or bullshitting yourself? It’s heavy stuff. But it turns me on.

    moik- Free rocks- "The Stealer" is a great song
    Okiesar- you're funny, like, High Fidelity funny
    Pure Guava 7- you're funny in an honest way. Unnecessairly taking it to the next level, I now have this image of someone literally nutting themselves while listening to the Black Keys. It's weird and I love it.
    Flag Shep420on May 23, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:yeah not really sure what a 10am Automatic is meant to be, but it doesn't matter when you've got a riff this good
    Flag brammoon March 12, 2007   Link

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