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3AM (Matchbox Twenty song)

1997 single by Matchbox Twenty

Field	Value
name	3AM
cover	3amMatchbox 20.jpg
type	single
artist	Matchbox 20
album	Yourself or Someone Like You
released
length	3:46
producer	Matt Serletic
prev_title	Push
prev_year	1997
next_title	Real World
next_year	1998
misc

| B-side =

"Push" (acoustic)
"Shame"
Atlantic
Lava
Melisma
Rob Thomas
Brian Yale
John Leslie Goff
John Joseph Stanley

"3AM" (stylized as "3 am" on the album and "3 AM" on the single) is the third single and the third track from American rock band Matchbox 20's debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You (1996). Written by Rob Thomas, Jay Stanley, John Leslie Goff, and Brian Yale, the song was inspired by Thomas dealing with his mother's cancer as a teenager. The song was officially serviced to US modern rock radio in October 1997 and was given a commercial release outside North America the following month.

"3AM" topped the Canadian RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart for two weeks and peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart; it was not eligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time due to not receiving a physical release in the United States. Outside North America, "3AM" reached number 31 in Australia and became a minor hit in Europe. A music video was also made for the song, directed by Gavin Bowden and filmed in Los Angeles.

Background and content

"3AM" was written by Rob Thomas, Jay Stanley, John Leslie Goff, and Brian Yale while performing together in the early 1990s band Tabitha's Secret. The song was first recorded by that band on its debut EP, Tabitha's Secret?. The lyrics are inspired by Thomas as an adolescent having to live with a mother fighting to survive cancer. In 1997, after the other members of Tabitha's Secret left to form Matchbox 20, Goff and Stanley released other early recordings of the band, including "3 AM", on Don't Play with Matches.

Music video

The song's music video, directed by Gavin Bowden, was shot in Los Angeles. It features the band sitting on sides of a street next to some telephone booths. A supermarket is also shown. The video switches between color video clips and black-and-white still images. During the introduction and the third verse of the song, Thomas walks in the middle of the street with some construction signs and lights. During the third verse, a Pontiac Trans Am with a bare-chested man and a woman inside stops in front of Thomas. The man gets out, revealing a catheter in his chest, receives three cigarettes from Thomas and then gets back in the Trans Am. Finally, during the last two choruses, the band is shown playing their instruments (presumably in the lobby of a hotel or office building) as rain can be seen falling from a large window behind them. The video ends with an image of Thomas standing next to the telephone booths.

Track listings

Australian and UK CD single

"3 AM" – 3:46
"Push" (acoustic) – 4:19
"Shame" – 3:35

UK 7-inch and cassette single; European CD single

"3 AM" – 3:46
"Push" (acoustic) – 4:19

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1997–1998)	Peak
position	Poland (Music & Media)	Quebec (ADISQ)	Spain Airplay (Music & Media)
20
21
5

Year-end charts

Chart (1997)	Position	US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)
91

Chart (1998)	Position	Canada Top Singles (RPM)	Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)	Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)	US Hot 100 Airplay (Billboard)	US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)	US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)	US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)	US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)	US Triple-A (Billboard)
5
57
11
3
2
13
4
23
1

Certifications

Release history

Region	Date	Label(s)	Ref.	United States	Australia	United Kingdom
October 6, 1997	Modern rock radio	title=Upcoming New Releases	magazine=Hits	volume=11	issue=563	page=38	date=October 3, 1997}}
November 23, 1997	CD
June 22, 1998

References

{{YouTube. BUVWzvFYk0k
(October 4, 1997). "Production Notes".
(1997). "3 AM". [[Atlantic Records]], [[Lava Records]], Melisma Records.
(1998). "3 AM". Atlantic Records, Lava Records, Melisma Records.
(1998). "3 AM". Atlantic Records, Lava Records, Melisma Records.
(1998). "3 AM". Atlantic Records, Lava Records, Melisma Records.
(June 13, 1998). "Major Market Airplay".
"Palmarès de la chanson anglophone et allophone au Québec". [[Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
(July 18, 1998). "Major Market Airplay".
(December 28, 1997). "Best of '97: Modern Rock Tracks".
(December 14, 1998). "RPM's Top 100 Hit Tracks of '98".
"RPM's Top 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks of '98".
"RPM's Top 50 Alternative Tracks of '98".
(December 26, 1998). "The Year in Music 1998: Hot 100 Singles Airplay".
(December 26, 1998). "The Year in Music 1998: Hot Adult Top 40 Singles & Tracks".
(December 26, 1998). "The Year in Music 1998".
(December 25, 1998). "Most Played Mainstream Top 40 Songs of 1998".
(December 25, 1998). "Best of '98: Most Played Triple-A Songs".
(October 3, 1997). "Upcoming New Releases".
(June 20, 1998). "New Releases: Singles".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1996-songs 1997-singles atlantic-records-singles lava-records-singles matchbox-twenty-songs rpm-top-singles-number-one-singles song-recordings-produced-by-matt-serletic songs-about-cancer songs-about-loneliness songs-written-by-rob-thomas-(musician)

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