Angry - This song is a mid-tempo, jangly song reminiscent of the BoDeans. "This was kind of me being sarcastic about the whole anger thing, and I'm trying to pat myself on the back about being a bigger man when I'm really not. It's me fighting with myself," says Rob. "I wanted it to open the record because it seemed like if our songs were a train, it would connect to the last and make one continuous record."

Black and White People - This song was written about 8 years ago. "Part of me is just so glad this song is on the record," says Rob. "When we did the last record, we didn't know what to do with it. It needed its own time to grow."

Crutch - A rush of words poured out of a relationship that left one partner feeling bitter and used. "I made it more universal," says Rob, "but it's about my old guitar players from my last band. It's kind of my big finger to them. It's probably one of my favorites."

Last Beautiful Girl - About a relationship gone bad and a girl who knew all the right things to say at all the wrong times.

If You're Gone - "I wrote this right after I met my wife," says Rob. "We were separated for a few weeks and were on the phone all the time, and I was thinking, 'I met this wonderful person,' and I wondered if everything I was going through was going to make it too crazy to build a relationship."

Mad Season - "The song took on a more universal tone but was originally about the wild ride that the band has been on since success hit," says Rob. "The whole idea came from our mad season. It has nothing to do with being bad, it's just crazy. There are not handbooks for any of this."

Rest Stop - This song is a break-up song written from the woman's point of view. This is about her having to end the relationship before she loses her nerve. And the man's sad realization that she sees all his faults despite his efforts to hide them. "This is actually a true story," says Rob. "I was hitchhiking to Daytona and met a woman, and I just wound up staying with her and her friends. She was driving me back, and she stopped somewhere in the middle of the night to wake me up and let me out about three miles from a rest stop."......."That's faith in me, that's security."........."This is an old song that I wrote a while ago and the thing is, the beauty of it is, if you listen to the lyrics, I swear to God every word of it is true. And you're gonna leave here going, 'that pitiful bastard!'" (Rob at a concert in Boston).

The Burn - A vague track about just not having the energy to pull it all together and wondering why that bolt of ambition (aka "The Burn") never hit.

Bent - This is probably the most optimistic song on the album. It is a lover's plea that is intended to help him through life. "It's a love song and a rock song; there's a hopeful tone to it," says Rob. "It's kind of like the person is saying, 'As misguided as I may be, these are the things that it takes to be with me.'"

Bed Of Lies - A beautiful layered ballad about a wrenching lover's spat. "I was originally hearing this as a Bonnie Raitt song," says Rob. "Matt was putting on the verses, and it took on this Peter Gabriel-esque turn."

Leave - It's about the exact moment when the relationship goes sour and all that's left is the heartache.

Stop - About just being fed up and scared and just ready to shed all the troubles.

Thanks to Just Hang for lettin' me borrow those interpretations.





Real World - "I came to this realization that we were going to make a record and I was going to be in a band and that all of a sudden, I was 23, 24 years old and no matter what I did, I was never going to be a fireman. I was never going to be a policeman... and it's like if you weren't doing that, would everything change? Would everybody think of me the same as if I were just like working in a fast-food restaurant."

Long Day - "Long day was a relationship song that was about how every moment can take forever." - AOL live (chat)

3am - It's about Rob's mom's ordeal with cancer and he called it 3 A.M. because that's when bars close.

Push - "I want to push you around,' then it makes a lot of sense that it's just about a relationship. It's just about emotional abuse. It's just about emotional violence. It's just about being manipulated and being controlled. The way relationships work." - An interview somewhere

Girl Like That - "Girl like that was a lot about a girl I was just obsessed with, for no reason at all, just completely obsessed. She treated me like total dirt and I obviously loved it because I would just stay around and stay around and..........yeah, I was obsessed with this girl and that was my whole thing, is if you get a girl like that, than any love at all is better than having nothing. I'll take it you know? If she's nice to me every now and then, I'll take it."

Back2Good - "This song I'm gonna do next is a...it's a song about perpetually screwing up. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's the only way I can describe it. I sat down and I tried to figure it out, cuz people always go 'Dude, what's that song about?' and you usually go 'ahhh...I don't know', right? But when you, when you really think about it, it was just about that fact that you screw up so many times that you get good at it. Right, that it becomes like a habit. And I'm not saying, I'm not saying that's a good thing, I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just saying that these, these things happen. And I wrote a song about it. Here it goes!" - Live from the 10Spot

Damn - "This is about trying to get laid."

Argue - "A song about a guy that thinks it's cool to beat up on his girl. But it's the whole 'we get along, we shouldn't argue'."

Kody - This song is about the little boy in the CD liner, Cody. Rob has said that it is the most meaningful song he has written so far.

Busted - "...it's about getting busted, but not like arrested. Like getting into shit and trouble is what I'm talking about." - The Mercury Lounge

Shame - "This is a song about trying to get laid by the wrong person

Hang - "This song is about this girl that I really liked, except she was going out with this guy. And this guy was all wrong for her, but she couldn't see it, and he couldn't see it. And I thought, wouldn't it be nice if they weren't together anymore?"

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