“Saint Joe on the School Bus” grieves over the cruelty inflicted upon a young boy. A line on “Dog and His Master” asserts that people can choose their own futures.
Though obscure, “Sex and Candy” (the video for which was a big hit on MTV) involves the singer eyeing a curvacious lady. A despondent boy and his distraught mother both drown themselves while clutching their Bibles (“One More Suicide”)-a bad model for despairing teens that romanticizes death and portrays Christianity as ineffectual. Two tracks boldly applaud recreational drug use (“Opium,” “Poppies”), while the more subtle “Ancient Walls of Flowers” may carry a similar message. A dabbler in black magic talks of dressing in occult garb and owning “sixteen books on magic spells” (“A Cloak of Elvenkind”). Listeners are told to visit the Big Apple to see prostitutes, and maybe take in a murder (“The Vampires of New York”).
Wozniak named his band after the schoolyard where he was picked on as a child-an experience he claims inspired these songs. But his bizarre ideological swings (from the joys of opium, to suicide, to casting spells) may push young fans down a slippery slide, making Playground a dangerous hangout.
