"Bent" is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

Matchbox Twenty Matchbox Twenty (also known as Matchbox 20 and MB20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, ...

. The

rock ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

was shipped to radio on April 7, 2000, as the lead single from their second album, '' Mad Season'', and was given a commercial release in the United States on July 5, 2000. "Bent" became the band's first and only song to top the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number one on the chart dated July 22, 2000, and spending one week at the position. The song also topped the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Singles chart in Canada for five nonconsecutive weeks.

Background and writing

Rob Thomas told '' Billboard'' magazine that it's "a love song and a rock song; there's a hopeful tone to it. It's kind of like the person is saying, 'As misguided as I may be, these are things that it takes to be with me.'" This was Thomas' first attempt at a love song and he believes it is co-dependent of the 21st century. Thomas spoke on ''

Storytellers Storyteller, story teller, or story-teller may refer to: * A person who does storytelling Arts and entertainment Film *''Oidhche Sheanchais'', also called ''The Storyteller''; 1935 Irish short film * '' Narradores de Javé'' (''Storytellers'') ...

'' that the song is about two people who are "both messed up", but they are together, so it does not matter.

Music video

The video, directed by Pedro Romhanyi, seems to be a bit of a play on Rob Thomas' increased profile following the 1999 mega-hit, "

Smooth Smooth may refer to: Mathematics * Smooth function, a function that is infinitely differentiable; used in calculus and topology * Smooth manifold, a differentiable manifold for which all the transition maps are smooth functions * Smooth algebrai ...

", since it features other members of the band mistreating him. It starts with him being hit by a car driven by Adam Gaynor. As he lies on the ground,

Kyle Cook David Kyle Cook (born August 29, 1975) is an American musician best known as a member of the band Matchbox Twenty, serving as the lead guitarist, banjo player, backing and occasional lead vocalist. Career Matchbox Twenty Kyle Cook joined Mat ...

shows up and empties Thomas of all money in his wallet. After this, Rob recovers from the car hit and walks off, singing the chorus. After the first chorus, he bumps into

Paul Doucette Paul John Doucette (born August 22, 1972) is an American musician best known for being the drummer, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the band Matchbox Twenty.Erlewine, Stephen ThomasMatchbox Twenty Biography, AllMusic, retrieved 2011-0 ...

. Rob sings a few more lines to a clearly unimpressed Paul, who basically shoves Rob out of his way. At this point Rob walks off again, singing the second chorus, and the wind seems to hit him stronger than it hits other people. He then heads into an alley where day and night intermix. He is assaulted yet again by Kyle Cook, at which point, Brian Yale shows up apparently to help him off the ground. Rob refuses the hand and walks off, eventually leaving the alleyway and emerging back into the daylight, when the events seem to recur from the beginning of the video.

Track listings

US CD single # "Bent" # " Push" (acoustic) UK and Australian CD single # "Bent" – 4:16 # "Don't Let Me Down" (live from Australia) – 4:11 # "Busted" (live from Australia) – 4:33 European CD single # "Bent" – 4:19 # "Don't Let Me Down" (live from Australia) – 4:16

Personnel

Personnel are adapted from the European CD sleeve. * Rob Thomas – vocals *

– lead guitar, background vocals, lead vocals on "Don't Let Me Down" * Adam Gaynor – rhythm guitar, background vocals * Brian Yale – bass *

– drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bent (Song) 2000s ballads 2000 songs 2000 singles APRA Award winners Atlantic Records singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Lava Records singles Matchbox Twenty songs Music videos directed by Pedro Romhanyi Rock ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Matt Serletic Songs written by Rob Thomas (musician)