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Rest StopMatchbox Twenty

Released: May 23, 2000

Songwriter: Rob Thomas

Producer: Matt Serletic

[Verse 1]
Just three miles from the rest stop
And she slams on the brakes
She said I tried to be but I'm not
So could you please collect your things
Well, I don't want to be cold, I don't want to be cruel
But I gotta find more than what's happenin' with you
And if you'd open up the door

[Chorus]
She said, while you were sleepin'
I was listenin' to the radio and wonderin' what you're dreamin' when
It came to mind that I didn't care
And I thought, hell, if it's over
Well I had better end it quick or I could lose my nerve
Are you listening?
Can you hear me?
Have you forgotten?

[Verse 2]
Just three miles from the rest stop
And my mouth's to dry to rage
The light was shinin' from the radio
And I could barely see her face
But she knew all the words that I never had said
She knew the crumpled up promise of this broken down man
As I opened up the door

[Chorus]
She said, while you were sleepin'
I was listenin' to the radio and wonderin' what you're dreamin' when
It came to mind that I didn't care
And I thought, hell, if it's over
Then I had better end it quick or I could lose my nerve
Are you listening?
Can you hear me?

[Interlude]

[Chorus]
While you were sleepin'
I was listenin' to the radio and wonderin' what you're dreamin' when
It came to mind that I didn't care
So I thought hell if it's over
Well I had better end it quick or I could lose all my nerve
Are you listening?
Can you hear me?

[Chorus]
While you were sleepin'
I was listenin' to the radio and wonderin' what you're dreamin' when
It came to mind that I didn't care
I thought, hell, if it's over
Well I had better end it quick or I could lose all my nerve
Are you listening?
Can you hear me?

Matchbox Twenty

Upon the release of their debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You, in fall 1996, Matchbox Twenty was pigeonholed as one of the legions of post-grunge guitar bands that roamed the American pop scene in the middle of that decade. As their first single, “Push,” climbed the charts, it was widely assumed (at least by cynical critics) that they were a one-hit wonder, but Yourself or Someone Like You continued to spin off singles well into 1998. By that time, the group’s blend of ‘70s arena rock and early-'90s American alt-rock – closer to Pearl Jam and maybe R.E.M. than Nirvana – had become the sound of mainstream American rock. That transition slipped underneath the radar of many pop music critics and fans. Yourself or Someone Like You sold millions of copies without ever truly dominating the charts – by 1998, it had gone platinum five times; by 2000, ten times. At no time did the record top the charts, but it was always around, a staple of modern rock, adult alternative, and Top 40 radio alike. Matchbox Twenty was omnipresent because they managed to blend the structure and sentiment of '70s arena rock with '90s hard rock, thereby winning a large audience by seeming simultaneously classicist and modern. They were a little more classicist than modern, but that’s the reason why they became America’s most popular rock band of the late '90s – even if nobody quite realized they had achieved that status.

The de facto leader of Matchbox Twenty is lead singer and songwriter Rob Thomas. An Army brat born on a military base in Germany, Thomas spent much of his childhood between his mother’s house in Florida and his grandmother’s place in South Carolina. The stress of the constant movement spilled over into his schoolwork, and he dropped out of high school at the age of 17. He spent some time wandering around the Southeast, singing in a variety of rock bands before he made Orlando, Florida his home base. There, he met bassist Brian Yale and drummer Paul Doucette, and the three spent several years drifting through local bands before Matchbox Twenty officially formed. They rounded out the lineup with Adam Gaynor (rhythm guitar, vocals), who had previously worked at the Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, and Kyle Cook (lead guitar), a former student of the Atlanta Institute of Music.

The band hooked up with Collective Soul producer Matt Serletic and recorded a batch of demos, which helped the band secure gigs throughout the U.S. Soon, the band signed to Lava, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, and recorded its debut, Yourself or Someone Like You, also with Serletic. The album was released in October 1996 to little attention, but Matchbox Twenty continued to tour America, cultivating a fan base. They eventually landed their single “Long Day” on several influential radio stations, which paved the way for their breakthrough hit, “Push.” In spring 1997, “Push” began climbing its way to the top of the modern rock charts, as it received heavy airplay from radio and MTV. By the summer, the single was in the modern rock Top Ten, and Yourself or Someone Like You had reached the album Top 40 and gone gold.

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