This weekend on 92.9, we are bringing you the Top 10 Songs from Matchbox 20. American rock band Matchbox Twenty have released four studio albums, one compilation album, three video albums, two extended plays, twenty-four singles and nineteen music videos. But what is their biggest song?
10.
She's So Mean
North (2012)
This is the first single from Matchbox Twenty's fourth studio album, North. It was the first record of new material that the band has released for ten years, although they did record seven new songs for their 2007 compilation album Exile On Mainstream. The song was released on June 12, 2012. Frontman Rob Thomas explained that the song's about, "the wrong kind of girls that we've probably all dated." However, as a band of mostly married men for the past decade, they turned to other sources of inspiration. "Luckily, you have single friends who are making really bad decisions, so you can draw on their experiences," he laughed.
9.
All Your Reasons
Exile on Mainstream (2007)
"All Your Reasons" is a song from Matchbox Twenty's fourth album, Exile on Mainstream. It was released in Australia as the second single from the album, while in the rest of the world, "These Hard Times" was released as the second single.
8.
Bright Lights
More than you think you are (2002)
This is about a girl who wants a career in acting. Her boyfriend loves her, but wants her to be happy so he lets her go, even though he obviously doesn't think she should be there and wants her to come home. He's letting her know that if she can't make it, he'll be there to help her.
7.
If You're Gone
Mad Season (2000)
Lead singer Rob Thomas wrote this as a "love letter" to his future wife, Marisol. She was having second thoughts about starting a relationship with a musician. "When I first met her, it was just a lot, me being on the road, me having a son, her going to college and not knowing if she wanted to date a guy that lived this kind of life," he explained in an interview. This broke the record for the slowest climb to #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It moved to top in its 42nd week on the chart.
6.
Long Day
Yourself or Someone Like You (1998)
“Long Day” seems to be premised on the age-old adage that ‘you can escape from anyone except yourself’. The narrator is someone whom we can define as being regularly depressed. Indeed the term “long day”, as you probably already know, alludes to the idea of a day not only being frustration but also adding to the displeasure seemingly endless. And what the singer is saying is that he feels like this “always”. Moreover in the first verse, hints are dropped which can be interpreted as the source of his depression being an experience akin to getting dumped by the woman he loves.
This is the first single which Matchbox Twenty ever released. And accordingly it is featured on their maiden album, “Yourself or Someone Like You”. The song itself was released via Atlantic Records on 1 January 1996
5.
Real World
Yourself or Someone Like You (1998)
This song was written by lead singer Rob Thomas, who is fantasizing about what it would be like to be someone else. This was the fourth release from the group's debut album and marked their first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, topping out at #38. It was a much bigger hit in the Adult Contemporary category. At one point in the song, Thomas ponders what it would be like to be a super hero. When asked in a 2017 interview what super power Thomas wished he had, the singer replied, "I wish I had the ability that at least one day a week I could eat whatever I want and have no calories."
4.
Unwell
More Than You Think You Are (2003)
This was written by Matchbox Twenty lead singer Rob Thomas. The lyrics center on Thomas coming to terms with how uncomfortable he felt as a rock star. Thomas Recalled "We were going into our third record. It came from the idea of still not feeling comfortable in my own skin, and the job sometimes even less so. I was always very comfortable in small groups, and I was always very comfortable on a stage. And then never comfortable in the group. You'd do things where you're out and amongst, and I was never really comfortable.
3.
How Far We've Come
Exile on Mainstream (2007)
In this song the narrator is looking back at his own life during an apocalyptic event when the world is ending. The video chronicles many of the important events that have happened over the past 50 or so years, including women marching for equal rights, the moon landing, tearing down the Berlin Wall, the new millennium celebrations, Live Aid and Live Earth.
2.
3am
Yourself or Someone Like You (1998)
Lead singer Rob Thomas wrote this about the time he spent caring for his mother when she was sick with cancer. Thomas was 12 years old when she got the disease, and she was given six months to live. She beat it, and by the time Rob was 17, she was healthy and he left home to set out on his own. Thomas chose the time 3 a.m. because it was an hour after the bars usually closed.
This was Matchbox Twenty's second hit (after "Push"), and very important for the band because it proved they were not a one-hit-wonder.
1.
Push
Yourself or Someone Like You (1998)
At least one feminist group tried to ban this song, believing that it encouraged violence toward women. The ploy failed when the band explained that it was about emotional, rather than physical confrontation, and dealt with female on male mental harm, not the other way around. Lead singer Rob Thomas has said that this is evident to anyone who listens to the lyrics and not just the chorus. This was their first hit, but not their first single. They first released "Long Day," which got some airplay and helped open the door for "Push."