I don’t know how many people know Matchbox Twenty? Easily confused perhaps with the UK band Matchbox, Matchbox Twenty hail from Florida. They started out as a group called Tabitha’s Secret before undergoing some personnel changes and then re-emerging in their new guise in the second half of the 1990s.

They’ve released only four albums but buried in those tracks are some very cleverly written songs. The one I’ve picked, Rest Stop is from the album Mad Season and highlights how clever their lyrics can be.

Superficially, Rest Stop could be just like any other love song ….they’re on a night drive and he’s fallen asleep in the passenger seat. She’s wondering what he’s dreaming about – but the clever irony of the song is that at that point, she realises she doesn’t care!

With the realisation that she doesn’t really have many feelings for him, she slams on the brakes and orders him out of the car. Apparently this song is based on something that really happened to Rob Thomas, the band’s singer/songwriter!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7891QgwZyA