“I Will Carry You” pledges support to a troubled friend, while “Shine” assures someone with a “shattered heart” that things will get better (“The world will turn around … You’re gonna shine”). A guy refuses to let the memory of a woman enslave him on “No More Sad Songs.” Innocuous celebrations of romantic love characterize “Invisible,” “Perfect Day,” “The Way” and “This Is the Night.” The singer wonders what a man must do to prove his love, and creates a list that could have Christian fans imagining the Lord (“Would he walk on water … Would he give up his life to be all that he can”).
Clay describes the achin’ in his heart for a lover on “Touch.” While not terribly explicit, it has obvious sexual overtones.
The American Idol runner-up told Time magazine, “Clive [Davis, Chairman/CEO of RCA Music Group] tried to tell me that saying certain words in a song—or as he says, ‘putting some b-lls into it’—isn’t bad, it’s just strong emotion. Well, there are certain words and emotions I don’t want kids hearing, and I’m not changing because they think it’s going to sell better.” That’s admirable. Except for the smoldering sexuality of “Touch,” he parlays that stand into a worthy disc.
