Vague love songs find the singer enraptured (“Sleep to Dream Her”), risking his heart for romance (“Fool to Think”), yearning for intimacy between “warring hearts” (“The Space Between”) and fighting loneliness across the miles (“Angel”). Love is also deemed a virtue on “Everyday,” “So Right” and “I Did It.” The context is unclear, but “Dreams of Our Fathers” ponders eternity.
Nebulous drug references cloud several tracks. Two profanities, including the f-word, mar “If I Had It All.” Matthews indulges “criminal” fantasies and boldly rejects Christ’s instruction in Luke 6:29 (with the line “I for one don’t turn my cheek for anyone”) on the arrogant “I Did It.” He wants to be found having sex “When the World Ends.” “So Right” urges fans to live for the moment and party hearty. Attempting to wax philosophical, “Mother, Father” concludes, “There’s no God above and no hell below.” Similarly, “What You Are” scoffs at faith (“Hoping to God on high is like clinging to straws while drowning”).
For the most part, an ambiguous stew. Sadly, the sexual preoccupation of “When the World Ends,” a boorish f-word and new evidence of Matthews’ long-held disdain for God come through loud and clear.
