Two Beds And A Coffee Machine

Album: Affirmation (1999)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about a woman who is trapped in an abusive relationship. To protect herself and the kids, she often runs away and spends the night at cheap hotels with two beds and a coffee machine. She knows there will be bills, that she can't survive on her own and eventually she will have to go back home. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Nikki - Melbourne, Australia
  • Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes tapped into his childhood experiences of domestic violence to write this track from Affirmation, the Australian pop duo's second studio album. He told Official Songs the song is "about an alcoholic, wife-beating dad and how me and my mum traveled from motel to motel with me with a black eye." Writing their own music, Savage Garden was an anomaly among the manufactured boy bands and girl groups that dominated the pop music scene of the mid-'90s. Hayes recalled: "This was coming out in a period when Spice Girls, NSync and MTV's TRL were huge. I'm proud that in the midst of it all – manufactured and often contrived pop music – we were allowed to write songs like that which were wise beyond our years."
  • Affirmation sold 3 million copies in the US, where it peaked at #6 on the albums chart. Uncomfortable with the level of fame brought on by two hit albums and a pair of chart-topping singles ("Truly Madly Deeply" and "I Knew I Loved You") Hayes' bandmate, Daniel Jones, officially left the group after their world tour. He eventually opened his own production company while Hayes pursued a solo career.

Comments: 1

  • Ioana from Bucharest, RomaniaThe song is about Darren's childhood. The woman is his mother, and he's the baby. I find it extraordinary sincere and feel like crying everytime I listen to it.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Edie Brickell

Edie BrickellSongwriter Interviews

Edie Brickell on her collaborations with Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Willie Nelson, and her 2021 album with the New Bohemians.

Rick Springfield

Rick SpringfieldSongwriter Interviews

Rick has a surprising dark side, a strong feminine side and, in a certain TV show, a naked backside. But he still hasn't found Jessie's Girl.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?

Colin Hay

Colin HaySongwriter Interviews

Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.