Escovedo's family tree includes former Santana percussionist Pete Escovedo and Pete's daughter, Sheila E (also Prince's former drummer and later a pop star). He began his music career with the Nuns, a mid-'70s punk band based in San Francisco. He co-founded the pioneering cowpunk band Rank and File in 1979, which moved to Austin, Texas, in 1981 after a stint in New York City. The band released Sundown on Slash Records in 1982, but shortly after, Escovedo left to form the True Believers with brother Javier. The band recorded two albums for EMI and toured the country, often as an opening act for Los Lobos. However, EMI opted not to release the second album, which eventually led to the group's break-up. (It eventually surfaced as a bonus item when Rykodisc reissued the first set on CD in 1994.)
Escovedo released a solo album in 1992 on Watermelon Records, Gravity, uniting his wide variety of styles; the album was produced by Stephen Bruton of Bonnie Raitt's band. Escovedo also began gigging periodically with the band Buick MacKane, who fused old-school punk with 70's glam rock; after Rykodisc released Escovedo's With These Hands in 1996, they followed it up with Buick MacKane's long-awaited album. After Escovedo parted ways with Rykodisc, he signed with the Chicago-based alt-country label Bloodshot in 1998, who released the live album More Miles Than Money: Live 1994-1996 and the acclaimed studio set A Man Under The Influence.
In April of 2003, Escovedo collapsed following a show in Phoenix, AZ, and he was subsequently diagnosed with Hepatitis C. An outpouring of support from musicians led to a series of successful benefit concerts to help pay Escovedo's medical expenses and keep his music before the public, followed by a tribute album, Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo, which was released in 2004.
In June 2010, Escovedo released Street Songs of Love.
Pissed Off 2AM
Alejandro Escovedo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't expect too much
The lights are off now
It's only two
How I wish my breath
It didn't hurt so much
Then you'd be up babe
Why don't you sleep?
You look as though you need it
The barricades and reasons
They mean nothing to me
Now they mean nothing to me
Well all my friends they laughed,
They laughed at all my jokes
I got one more story,
It's only two
How I wish my tough
Could erase the past
They you'd be up babe
It's only two
Why don't you drink
You look as though you need one
The barricades and reasons
They mean nothing to me,
No, they mean nothing to me
If these were different times
Then you'd be up,
And we'd trade stories
It's only two
Why don't we pretend?
I's all we have between us
The barricades and reasons
They mean nothing to me, now
Why don't you sleep?
You look as though we need it
The barricades and reasons
They mean nothing to me,
Now they mean nothing to me
The song "Pissed Off 2AM" by Alejandro Escovedo is a melancholic and reflective piece about a person coming home late at night and finding themselves alone. The person in the song is trying to find comfort and companionship in their memories and thoughts, but they are struggling to do so. The singer is addresssing these thoughts, most likely to someone who used to occupy that space beside him, asking questions about sleeping and drinking, and interrupting with a story to pass the time. The person is trying to connect with someone, hoping that whoever they are asking to sleep, drink, or pretend with, can provide some sort of solace in their time of need.
The first verse starts off with the singer coming home and not expecting too much. The lights are off, and it's only two in the morning. They then express their desire to not have their breath hurt so much, most likely referring to some form of heartache or pain they are experiencing. They wonder why the person they are speaking to isn't asleep, as they look like they need it.
In the second verse, the singer's friends have all gone home or are occupied with their own lives. They lament their desire to erase the past with tough, possibly by fighting actions, hoping this could heal the pain they are feeling. They propose the idea of drinking together to provide some sort of comfort, but this is ultimately meaningless to them.
The chorus comes in with the person addressing the idea that if these were different times, the person he is talking to would still be with him, and they could trade stories like they used to. However, the barricades and reasons for why they are not together are not as important as sleeping or pretending together, now that they find themselves together but somehow not together.
Line by Line Meaning
Sometimes I come home,
I often return to my house
I don't expect too much
I don't have high expectations
The lights are off now
The lights in my house are turned off
It's only two
It's early in the morning, just two o'clock
How I wish my breath
I wish I could control my breathing
It didn't hurt so much
So that my breathing didn't hurt
Then you'd be up babe
So that you would be awake with me
Why don't you sleep?
Why aren't you sleeping?
You look as though you need it
You appear to be tired and in need of sleep
The barricades and reasons
The barriers and justifications
They mean nothing to me
They hold no significance for me
Now they mean nothing to me
They currently hold no significance for me
Well all my friends they laughed,
All of my friends laughed
They laughed at all my jokes
They found my jokes funny
I got one more story,
I have another story to tell
It's only two
It's early in the morning, just two o'clock
How I wish my tough
I wish my strength
Could erase the past
Could eliminate my past experiences
They you'd be up babe
You would then be awake with me
Why don't you drink
Why aren't you drinking?
You look as though you need one
You appear to need a drink
If these were different times
If this was another time period
Then you'd be up,
You would be awake
And we'd trade stories
And we would exchange stories
Why don't we pretend?
Why don't we act as though something else is true?
I's all we have between us
It's the only thing that we share
Now they mean nothing to me
They currently hold no significance for me
Why don't you sleep?
Why aren't you sleeping?
You look as though we need it
You appear as though we need sleep
The barricades and reasons
The barriers and justifications
They mean nothing to me,
They hold no significance for me
now
currently
they mean nothing to me
currently, they hold no significance for me
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind