Kick You Out: Collin writes the majority of our songs, but this one I wrote a while back. The first few lines I wrote several years ago; I liked the rhyme, but they sat around on a slip of paper with me not knowing how to complete them. Then I had a really awful spat with my girlfriend one night. The funny thing is that after the fact, we couldn't even agree on exactly who kicked who out of what house! Anyway, I found myself home alone steaming mad, imagining what a final breakup would look like, wanting a completely voice-shredding chorus, and the rest of the song popped out in a few minutes. Songwriting can be pretty weird that way.

Drain on Me: I had several people in mind when I wrote this one. For me it's about caring about someone who I know deep down is a good person. But their personal problems are sort of running their life, and as someone who cares, I get sucked in and damaged by them. I think the impulse for the song is that point when I've reached the end of my tether with people like this. It's like: I love you, but you're killing me! I can't hang around you anymore, because you'll take me down with you, and I'm not going down!

Make the Escape: This is a very personal song for me, although it's about a global issue. I watched a PBS documentary about soldiers coming back from Iraq, who GOT IT, you know, they saw the political insanity in our government and woke up to what a mistake and a lie the whole war is and has been. It felt good to know that so many of them were breaking out of the gung-ho, if-the-President's-a-Republican-he's-always-right thing. But then I got hit with this incredible sadness, because so many young people don't get it soon enough, and enlist with the best of intentions, and get killed or wounded in a debilitating way. The song just came out of this desperate wish to warn people, to get them to see the light before they enlist. To see that our military is a bunch of guns for political hire, it's not really for national defense anymore. And signing up can get you killed.

Final Friend: Well, this one's sort of a combination. I wrote it about some of the dysfunctional people I've had in my life and about our current President. It struck me that there were common themes to all these people - self-destructive behavior, denial, self-righteousness, belief that they're always right and everyone else is wrong. And whereas Drain on Me is a bit more of an f- you, this is more about the pain of having to let a self-destructive person go, let them hurt themselves and others, because they refuse to listen and refuse help. At a certain point I have to let such people go, because they have the right to live their lives as they see fit. But it's sad to see anyone do unnecessary damage to their own life and the lives of others. Which in the case of our president is a pretty large number of people.

Alien Homeland: I really love this song because most of my lyrics tend to be more.I don't know, logical? Literal? And this one's not, it's much more poetic. But the poetry is up against thunderous drums and that nasty guitar, which is a nice contrast. And it fits because the poetry isn't about nice stuff. This one more than anything I'd like to leave completely open for people to draw what they want from it. But if I had to say something, I'd say for me, it's about wanting to feel a sense of home and the anger of not being able to find it.

Motherf**ker: It's safe to say that in terms of meaning, this is the clearest song I've ever written. I think it's self-explanatory!

Long Face: Long Face is such an interesting song to me. In one sense because all the lyrics came out in one burst while we were first coming up with the music. It was just like BANG! and that was it, I never changed anything. And when we play it live it has a very weird effect on the audience. it's either someone's favorite by far, or they head for the rest room. It's a divider not a uniter! I like that it's last on the CD, that way people can either put it on repeat or avoid it entirely! I wrote it from personal experience and experiences I've heard from others. how some people get into their 20's, and in days past that was when you were in your prime in America, you know, career, spouse, kids, house, yard, dog, etc. But I and a lot of people felt very confused at that age, not really knowing how to sort things out or get moving in the right direction. And how financial hardship can compound that in a very bad way, like, you're already confused and now you've got landlords and bill collectors screaming at you - doesn't help alleviate the confusion! I love the ending, because you can read it in different ways. Maybe that woman doesn't understand the narrator at all, and she's just one more annoying part of his reality that isn't working. Or maybe she's a wise, happy person who knows something he doesn't.