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

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)Songwriter Interviews

The former Metallica bassist talks about his first time writing a song with James Hetfield, and how a hand-me-down iPad has changed his songwriting.

Dan Reed

Dan ReedSongwriter Interviews

Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Brandi Carlile

Brandi CarlileSongwriter Interviews

As a 5-year-old, Brandi was writing lyrics to instrumental versions lullabies. She still puts her heart into her songs, including the one Elton John sings on.