Bent

firstly this is one of my favorite songs ever when i saw them in concert they opened this with Rob saying 'when we toured with this album we discovered that in europe 'bent' means gay. and this was during my 'tight pants and eyeliner stage'. so all over the place there are these posters of me in tight pants and eyeliner with 'bent' in big letters underneath'

It's definitely about someone whose hurting and feeling down, begging for someone to help them. But what I also see in the song is a lot of angst and anger, like the person he once loved really let him down somehow, but in spite of that he still loves her and sees that they need each other, and thats the only wat he can get "put back together"

Wow the music rocks in this song. Rob Thomas is so sexy!

Seems like most people see this as a love song, but I see it as a broken relationship, that's not gonna get any better.

He wants so much from her, but really it's not that much. He just wants her to love him for who he is. He knows he's screwed up, knows he is close to worthless. When he's upset, he just wants her to hold him - just holding him would help so much. But she DOESNT understand him. She can't see past her own self to help him get past all this, to help him piece himself back together.

If I fall along the way Pick me up and dust me off And if I get too tired to make it Be my breath so I can walk He wants her to love him and be his support!

If I need some other love Give me more than I can stand And when my smile gets old and faded Wait around I'll smile again If he's feeling unloved, he wants her to love him excessively. And, sometimes, life just sucks and it's pretty miserable - she can't just expect him to smile all the flipping time. It'll get better, but sometimes its too hard to smile.

Shouldn't be so complicated Just hold me and then Just hold me again He just wants her to hold him, and she doesn't even care enough to do that for him.

Can you help me I'm bent I'm so scared that I'll never Get put back together He needs her help so much, he's so screwed up he's terrified, and he doesn't think he'll ever be okay again.

You're breaking me in And this is how we will end With you and me bent He needs her help, and all she can do is tell him what's wrong, how there's so much he needs to fix (like he doesn't know that). And he tries and tries and she keeps bending him and bending him, never thinking to just hold him. It's not going to end pretty.

If I couldn't sleep could you sleep Could you paint me better off Could you sympathize with my needs I know you think I need a lot Have you ever been lying in bed with someone, and you're upset and can't sleep, but they just go to sleep anyways instead of caring? She thinks he'd be better somewhere else, but he just wants her. He wants her to care, but she just thinks he's too needy.

I started out clean but I'm jaded Just phoning it in Just breaking the skin He used to be such a great, put-together guy - now he's ruined.

Start bending me It's never enough I feel all your pieces Start bending me Keep bending me until I'm completely broken in He tries to get better, but it's not enough for her. Just keep going, keep criticizing and beating him down, until he's what you want him to be.

Sucks.

To me this song is about a relationship that's already over ending with them both "bent". The guy is telling the girl that all he wanted is all her love and attention but she just doesn't seem to get it. But because he's so bent and in love he still loves her and just wishes she felt the same way even after she's already gone. Maybe my thoughts on it are based off of my own recent break up...When I get in a relationship all I ever ask for is attention and love. I don't need gifts or anything else, just to feel like I'm the most important thing in their lives. The other person broke it off because I was "too clingy" when all I wanted was attention.

If I fall along the way Pick me up and dust me off And if I get too tired to make it Be my breath so I can walk (He's asking her to be his support. If he falls he wants her to pick him up, if he feels like he can't make it, he's asking her to stay and help him. He knows he has problems and things get hard sometimes but with her help he'd be ok)

And if I need some other love Give me more than I can stand (If he ever thinks of anyone else, if ever he thinks of leaving, he tells her to just love him so much he can't stand it anymore, love him until it drives him crazy, and more.) And when my smile gets old and faded Wait around I'll smile again (Everyone has their off days. He knows he can't pretend to be happy all of the time but if she'll just wait it out with him eventually she can cheer him up and make him smile again)

Shouldn't be so complicated Just hold me and then Well just hold me again (He seems to be getting a little frustrated here that she's still not getting it. She's the only one that can make him happy in spite of all their fights and everything else. Love shouldn't be complicated, all he wants is her to be there for him always and to just hold him. Even if things are all falling apart and going wrong, all she'd have to do is hold him again and it would be ok)

[Chorus] Can you help me I'm bent I'm so scared that I'll never Get put back together Keep breaking me in And this is how we will end With you and me bent (To me this shows that they've broken up but it could still be saved. He's bent, not broken, at least he thinks so. I think he's saying she's not comming back though when he say's that he might never get put back together. She was the only thing holding him together. In spite of all the fights he still wants her back and to keep on "breaking him in" because all the good was worth the bad. But he basically resigns himself to the end when he says its ending with them bent. In spite of how much he loves her and she could save it all by holding him, she's just too stubborn to do it so they both end up bent.)

If I couldn't sleep could you sleep (He's trying to get a feel of how she still feels. If he's hurting and wide awake would that bother her or would she be able to sleep like nothings wrong in her world) Could you paint me better off (I think he's saying if you have to leave could you leave me a little less bent than I was when you were here. As hard as that would be he wants to know that there's still something else to live for after she's gone.) Could you sympathize with my needs I know you think I need a lot (He knows that she thinks he's needy and clingy but he's asking her to try and sympathize if nothing else. All he's ever asking for in the song is all of her attention and love. He wants to feel like he's all that ever matters to her and that he's all that's in her heart, yet she still feels like that's too much. To me this kinda says why they broke up, she thought he was too needy)

I started out clean but I'm jaded (He was just fine before she came along. But now that she bent him he's just cynical and can't find happiness without her) Just phoning it in Just breaking the skin (He ends up "just phoning it in", going through the motions. After a break up it's easy to say that it's time to go back to business as usual but it doesn't feel right though really nothings changed and you feel like you're just phoning it in. "Just breaking the skin" to me means that no matter what everything's just the tip of the iceburg. The start of missing her, the earlier start of just saying how much he needs her, the start of moving on. He's just kinda there.) [Chorus]

Start bending me It's never enough I feel all your pieces Start bending me Keep bending me, until I'm completely broken in (He knows that she's broken too, so it's kind of saying why not be broken together? Even if he knows she's going to hurt him, he needs to be with her and it's never enough so he's willing to tolerate all the pain and be entirely broken in if she'd just give him all her love and more.)

Shouldn't be so complicated Just touch me and then Just touch me again (I could see the last two lines as either refering to make up sex. Saying even after all of their fights, he still wants her in every way. Or it could be about after fights just letting him know things are ok again, a touch of the hand, shoulder, anything. Just touching him to let him know they're still close and he matters.)

Without understanding, yeah I'll go there again (He doesn't know why he loves her so much but he's not going to question it. After the break ups and the pain, he really shouldn't love her anymore. He knows they'll just end up fighting again, but regardless he's still more than willing to get back together and "go there again" just because of love.)

i personally think this song is fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!! love the song "bent" and other songs of matchbox20 !!!!!!!!!!!!! mathchbox20 is tight they rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AGREED.

I'm inclined to agree. Matchbox 20 rules. The video for Bent brings out the words of the song. It's great. When are they gonna put out another CD?

I agree with zacster, the vid for this song is incredible, and Rob Thomas' voice is perfect for all these angsty songs. This one is especially a favourite of mine... =)

Matchbox 20 just plain rules. No arguments.