This was a massive hit when it was released in November 23, 1997. It was the third single from their debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You. It hit Number 1 in Canada and the US but strangely only Number 31 in Australia – even though it was being rotated on radio stations just about every hour at the time. Rob Thomas is the chief songwriter, singer and front guy for Matchbox 20.
NOTE: The song was originally recorded and released in the key of Ab. But this demo and the downloadable MP3 is in G. We have done this because Ab is an unusual and awkward key for a guitar song. You might wonder why the original song was recorded in Ab? Good question. We can tell by the chord phrasing that they did not use a capo to achieve this. It is obviously played in G on the guitar. So it means they either tuned down 1 semitone (from A) or they played it in G and tuned up. Since the live video below shows Rob Thomas playing in open G, it’s a fair bet they played it in G but tuned up 1 semi for the record! This is unusual to say the least. It was common for hard rock singers to tune down 1 semitone to preserve the singers voice, but this is neither hard rock nor a difficult song to sing, so it’s a quirky little mystery. If we ever bump into Rob, we’ll ask him!
VIDEOS:
- Watch the official video clip HERE (in Ab)
- And a live acoustic version HERE (in G). This supports our reasoning above that guitarists almost always try to avoid playing in Ab – even if it’s their own song!
3AM
Matchbox 20
Intro
Verse 1
She said, “It’s cold outside” and she hands me a raincoat
She’s always worried about things like that
She said, “It’s all gonna end and it might as well be my fault”
Bridge
And she only sleeps when it’s raining
And she screams, and her voice is straining
Chorus
And she says, “Baby, it’s 3am, I must be lonely”
And 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”
Verse 2
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 that the moon don’t hang quite as high as it used to
Bridge
And she only sleeps when it’s raining
And she screams, and her voice is straining
Chorus
And she says, “Baby, well it’s 3am I must be lonely”
Well she says, “Baby, I can’t help
But be scared of it all sometimes
And the rain’s gonna wash away, I believe this”
Verse 3
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 three for days… and days
She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway
But outside it’s stopped raining…
Chorus / Outro
And she says, “Baby, It’s 3 am I must be lonely”
Well 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”
Well it’s 3am, I must be lonely
Well she says, “Baby, well, I can’t help
But be scared of it all sometimes”
Songwriter(s): Brian Yale / John Goff / John Joseph Stanley / Robert Thomas
© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Tecklah Music