Lyrics for 3 AM as interpreted by punkmebabygal

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

[chorus]

She says baby
It's 3 am I must be lonely
When she says baby
Well I can't help but be scared of it all sometimes
Says the rain's gonna wash away I believe it

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 it's raining
And she screams and her voice is straining

[chorus]

She believes that life is made up of all that you're used to
And the clock on the wall has been stuck at three for days, and days
She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway
But outside it's stopped raining

[chorus]

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 76 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
Linoge
01-06-2002

Rated 0 
Great song...Meaning eludes me. Could someone help me out please?

Log in to reply
ok4u2bu
02-14-2002

Rated 0 
I saw Rob do this as a piano acoustic on Storytellers and told the story of his mother fighting cancer when he was like 14 years old and this is the story of it

Log in to reply
walking-catastrophe
02-27-2002

Rated 0 
I always liked this song, I dunno why, it's my favourite of theirs. I never knew wut it was about though... Now I know :) My favourite line is: she thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway. Poor Rob though, I'm 14 & I'd hate for my mom to have cancer. That's about all I have to say.

Log in to reply
social casualty
03-29-2002

Rated 0 
I always assumed it was about someone dying and having hope.. then when Rob was on storytellers I got a better picture of what it was about..

Log in to reply
savage daydream
03-30-2002

Rated 0 
hey...my favourite line is "she thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway" too! great song...not one of my favourites, but still real good.

Log in to reply
michi_nsx
04-17-2002

Rated 0 
I think the girl that rob sings about suffers from a case of schizophrenia, in the first part he says she hands him a rain coat, "it's all gonna end and it might as well be my fault". she fears the outside world. she shows classic symptoms of schizo, like waking up at odd hours and making outrageous claims. for instance "she swears the moon don't hang quite as high as it used to".
she only sleeps when it's raining. I think she feels protected by the rain. this is a great song about his partner; however, I believe he dose not tolerate this behavior for long, because he doesn't state once how he put her to sleep, or comforted her.

Log in to reply
emmychloe
05-06-2002

Rated 0 
fave lines: 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

never understood how it related to watching his mother die, though.

Log in to reply
divican
07-22-2002

Rated 0 
Heard it was about his mother and the problems she had when she was fighting cancer. Rob didn't think she handled it too well.

Log in to reply
theatrepunk03
07-24-2002

Rated 0 
This song has always freaked me out a little. It's a very good song, but very creepy lyrics. Now that I know what it's about it makes a LOT more sense!

Log in to reply
CoUrTnEySWhoRe00
07-26-2002

Rated 0 
um hi theatrepunk ... guess who ... lol told ya my username would freak ya out ... lol so yeah i havent heard thissong yet but ... ummm... i probably will

Log in to reply
zacster
08-13-2002

Rated 0 
this song DOES make more sense. I didn't realize it was about his mom at first. I'll have to grasp the meaning a little more next time I listen to it.

Log in to reply
SilentWitness
09-14-2002

Rated 0 
Listen to the acoustic piano version, it's amazing.

Log in to reply
butterflylove82
09-24-2002

Rated 0 
This is the best song ever. My dad died of cancer recentlly, and I can understand why he wrote it (however it must have been really hard to deal with at 14). When someone that close to you gets sick, no matter how good or bad of a person they are they begin to become scared of death and hate the idea of dying, especially if they are too young to die. Watching a parent go through that is extremely hard, because they are usually the ones telling you it's okay and protecting you.It's a really hard life lesson to live through, but when it is a persons' time, they have to go, and it will always get better. I love the last line about the rain washing it all away...sorry to be depressing, I just kind of understand the song and really love it.

Log in to reply
ChaosFluro24
10-05-2002

Rated 0 
The clock on her wall has stopped at 3:00 a.m. "It's 3 a.m. and I must be lonely." At this point in her life she is always lonely. I never realized that until now.

I really love the idea of the rain washing it all away, the pain, the fear, the impurities. (sigh)

Log in to reply
Mesmerize
03-06-2003

Rated 0 
"She's got a little bit of somethin'/God, it's better than nothin'"

Those are my favorite lines, definitely. Rob is such a genius. Amazing!!

Log in to reply
Wicked_Game
03-13-2003

Rated 0 
On storytellers Rob tells how the song is about his mother then says, "nobody really picked up on it, which is just as good cause then it would lose something universal about a song that makes it kinda special to everybody cause you're supposed to be able to take it into your own and use it for whatever you want."
I thought it was kinda neat how Rob acknowledged how this song belongs not only to himself, but to all of us for whatever meaning it brings.

Log in to reply
Wiplash
03-15-2003

Rated 0 
this song's lyrics r awesome they r so true.. they show the fact that not everything is perfect...

Log in to reply
Wheezymonster
03-17-2003

Rated 0 
I still haven't understood the lyrics, even after I saw Storytellers. The piano version is as beautiful as everyone says it is, even more so. I have always looked for the sheet music to the piano acoustic version.

Log in to reply
wildabandon
03-19-2003

Rated 0 
I love the piano acoustic version. It is like wow. But I have that reaction to Rob Thomas in general

Log in to reply
vengo
04-27-2003

Rated 0 
This is actually a cover of a Tabitha's Secret's "3AM"

http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=59896

Log in to reply
Minky
04-30-2003

Rated 0 
vengo, check your facts. Robb Thomas was in Tabitha's Secret, as was the bassist and drummer. I think its ok to consider it a Matchbox 20 song since it was with Matchbox 20 it became big.

Log in to reply
vengo
05-07-2003

Rated 0 
Yes, Robb was in Tabitha's Secret, but they still released the song as their own. So even though it's associated with Matchbox 20, it's still originally a Tabitha's Secret song.

Log in to reply
LovemyDrums
06-14-2003

Rated 0 
i agree with ChaosFluro24 on how she is alwyas lonely now. i love this song and matchbox 20 has always been one of my favorite bands except for their mad season cd. 3 am was my first fave song by them.

Log in to reply
aRe.Bee
06-22-2003

Rated 0 
Now that I found out this song is about his mother, it has a whole new meaning.
"And the clock on the wall has been stuck at three for days, and days
She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway
But outside it's stopped raining"
To me, saying that the clock on the wall has been stuck at 3, and saying that the rain stopped would almost signify his mother dieing. Since they usually stop the clock when a person passes.
But, I dono. Whatever it means, this song rules.

Log in to reply
ang itlog
06-23-2003

Rated 0 
I love this song...and you'll feel the lyrics when you hear the paino acoustic. you'll be like, "wow."

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here