Bent (song)

Infobox Single |
Name = Bent


Artist = Matchbox Twenty
from Album = Mad Season
Released = April 18 2000 (US)
Format = CD single / Audio cassette
Recorded = 1999
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 4:16
Label = Atlantic
Producer = Matt Serletic
Last single = "Girl Like That" (1998)
This single = "Bent" (2000)
Next single = "If You're Gone" (2000)

"Bent" is the first single from "Mad Season", the second album by the rock band Matchbox Twenty. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 22, 2000, and stayed there for one week before being unseated by 'N Sync's "It's Gonna Be Me".

The song had an interesting reception in the UK market, as "bent" is a slang term synonymous with "gay": the chorus of the song contains the line "Can you help me, I'm bent..." The song also contains suggestive lyrics in this vein: "keep breaking me in", which is slang for a gay man's first sexual experience.

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". It starts with him being hit by a car driven by Adam Gaynor. As he lies on the ground, Kyle Cook 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. Rob sings a few more lines to a clearly unimpressed Paul, who basically shoves Thomas 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's assaulted yet again, 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 re-occur from the beginning of the video.

Chart positions