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"Bent"
#1 weeks: 1
weeks: 2000-07-22
genre: alternative rock
artist: Matchbox Twenty
album: Mad Season
producers: Matt Serletic
label:
formats: CD single, audio cassette
lengths: 4:16

"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 lyric "Can you help me? I'm bent."The song also contains suggestive lyrics in this vein: "Keep breaking me in", a slang term for being sexually penetrated.

This song has no links to homosexuality; Thomas spoke on Storytellersthat this song is about two people who are both messed up, but because they're together, it doesn't matter. This was Thomas' first attempt at a love song and he believes it is co-dependent of the 21st century.

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", 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 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.