She says it's cold outside and she hands me my raincoat
She's always worried about things like that
Well she says it's all gonna end and it might as well be my fault
And she only sleeps when its raining
And she screams, and her voice is straining

[Chorus]
And she says baby
It's 3am 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 this

She's got a little bit of something, god it's better than nothing
And in her color portrait world she believes that she's got it all
She swears the moon don't hang quite as high as it used to
And she only sleeps when its raining
And she screams, and her voice is straining

[Chorus]

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 3 for days, and days
She thinks that happiness is the mat that sits on her doorway
But outside its stopped raining

[Chorus]

Well it's 3am I must be lonely
Well hell, when she says baby
Well I can't help but be scared of it all sometimes.



Lyrics submitted by punkmebabygal

Track duration: 03:45

"3 AM" as written by Brian Yale, Rob Thomas, John Goff, John Joseph Stanley

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


3 AM song meanings
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93 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:this song is about his mom fighting cancer! youtube.com/…#!
    Flag candiceelon March 20, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song was written for his mother who was sick
    Flag candiceelon March 20, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The first paragraph..."she says it's cold outside and she hands me a raincoat... she's always worried about things like that"... he's talking about his mom taking care of him.

    "She says it's all gonna end and it might as well be my fault" - as in he wants to assume some sort of responsibility for her death...

    She only sleeps when it's raining and she screams her voice is straining - she cries herself to sleep....

    "It's 3 am - I must be lonely" - 3 am is the witching hour or when spirits come out to haunt... "She says baby, it's 3 am I must be lonely" - this could signify the angel of death... "I can't help but be scared of it all sometimes" He is scared of his mother passing and leaving him... "The rain is gonna wash away what I believe in" His mother's tears show him that she has given up hope... so his mother could have had some sort of strong faith and when she cried, he felt as if she had lost faith, which caused him to as well...

    "She's got a little bit of something - god it's better than nothing - and in her color portrait world she believes that she's got it all" - when people are close do death - they hallucinate "color portrait world" so maybe she was hallucinating toward the end... Giving her something to hang onto... "god it's better than nothing"

    "She swears the moon don't hang quite as high as it used to" – She’s ready to give up – she doesn’t see the world in the same way anymore… just doesn’t hold the same beauty as before…she is ready to leave this world…

    “Well she believes that life isn’t made up of all that you’re used to” – she has seen the other side – hanging between life and death you can see those things and she is ready to leave this world…
    “The clock on the wall has been stuck at 3 for days and days” - some people say that clocks stop when someone dies… 3 am, being the hour in which spirits come out… angel of death has come to take her.

    “She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway” - This, I think is the most haunting and beautiful line of the song! He is somewhat upset that she has given up – as in a “doormat” to death… He does not understand why she has given up and is no longer fighting… she is content to be a "doormat" to death in his eyes...

    But, outside, it’s stopped raining – her tears are no longer visible (outside) meaning she is not sad anymore and he can't see her pain... She has passed away...

    “Well, it’s 3 am I must be lonely---when she says baby… Well, I can’t help but be scared of it all sometimes” - Angel of death has came down to take his mother to heaven, but it shows that he is somewhat scared of death…
    Flag mizzmoxxieon June 28, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this is about a girlfriend or at least I did in the beginning. After reading a few comments I found interesting vues but i think that this is about a girlfriend he had and how kind and thoughtful she is I think hes trying to tell some sort of story about her. I think he means to say how down to Earth and caring she is by saying she hands me a rain coat that shows thoughtfuyllness. I don't think this is a mother he is speaking of because it says, "she says Baby" I dont think mom's call their kids that. She also says "It's 3am I must be lonely" a mother wouldn't say that to her son. I believe that it's someone he cares about that is very down to Earth, caring and sensative. But i dont really know
    Flag sgsoccerstar33on April 07, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is undoubtably about a boys mother dying, but it is also a very happy song because the mother is enjoying the last moments of life before her time. On that note, there is the reoccurring quote "she only sleeps when it's raining" meaning, in my opinion, that the only moments in life that she wants to miss are the dull, rainy moments. We know that she has some sort of terminal illness because the song says "I can't help but be scared of it all sometimes" and "the moon don't hang quite as high as it used to" (The latter one means that heaven is becoming more of a reality to her and it feels much closer). Ya, just some thoughts! Great song though, never gets old!
    Flag wnixonon August 15, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:The acoustic version is so moving. It made me cry when I first heard it. You can concentrate on the lyrics without worrying about anything else. It's absolutely beautiful, and so sad at the same time.

    Flag sloantorreson November 18, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet.

    The "3 am" is an allusion to something F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote: "In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning." He later describes how the "dark night of the soul" is marked by loneliness.
    Flag haw45386on October 05, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:This is about his mom fighting cancer(:
    Flag Arobsonskiion August 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Love this song, its very catchy. At first I thought it was primarily about insomnia, and his reassurance towards the girl, as well as other people who experience insomnia, that they're are not alone, and it gives a sense of belonging to the song, that even if we are all strangers to each other, we are not strangers to the condition.
    ===========================
    Or from lyrical interpretation it could also be a story that was never told. About a girl who experiences mental health problems like skitzophrenia, insomnia and depression (She says it's all gonna end and it might as well be my fault) she thinks of commiting suicide, giving up hope and blaming herself for it. Hence killing herself in the end, whilst nobody knew what she was going through. Its kinda sad when you think of it that way.
    He then tells her story, the one that was never told, maybe he knew this girl, and the reprucussions of her death are having an impending effect on him. Like most deaths that can be prevented, it leaves others in the mist, questioning 'whys?' and 'what if's?', thinking about what they could have done to change the outcome.
    The way the lyrics are sung are through 3rd person omniscient narration. Like she is not talking directly to him, because his reactions are not received through the lyrics, perhaps she is talking to herself, muttering quietly, and so he imagines this, as part of the phases that she has been through before she died. The most disturbing lines in the song for me are;(And she only sleeps when it's raining
    And she screams and her voice is straining) its kinda hard to detect the disturbance in the lyrics behind the upbeat-ness of the song. But in the end, I think he is sorting reason and resolution to help him get through the trauma caused by a death.
    Flag alterEgoon July 30, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The piano acoustic of this song is so amazing and heartfelt... clearly better than the original
    Flag SamZ15on July 14, 2010   Link

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