You didn't get a lot of knowing winks from female artists at the time." Songs Deal has said that many of the songs are sexual in nature. The slow-paced opening track "Glorious" describes an adult who has vague but pleasant memories of being molested as a child by an aunt. It and the next song, "Doe", were co-written by Ray Halliday. "Doe" concerns a schizophrenic teenage couple losing their grip of reality after taking Thorazine; in a delusional state they plan to burn down their town. LeMay described this track as possessing a beautiful, gripping quality, while NMEs Steve Lamacq cited it as an example of using reduced instrumentation to good effect ("stripped down but punchy"). Larkin believes that the band's cover of the Beatles' "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" achieves a friction that the original only hints at, and Lamacq commented on its tight sound and prominent drum part. The Breeders recorded the song at the suggestion of Watts-Russell. "Oh!" has—according to writer Martin Aston—a slow tempo, restrained drumming, a sad violin performance by Carrie Bradley, and unexpectedly raw singing by Deal. She had planned to use the title "The Insect Song" because its lyrics tell the story of one insect encouraging others, hoping they do not get stepped on. Deal has said that "Hellbound" described a fetus that survives an abortion, and that the song is "kinda like a heavy metal hymnal, 'We're all hellbound." She cited the line "It lives, despite the knives internal" as containing the most embarrassing lyrics she has written. Before recording, the other band members teased her about the line, but since she could not think of a better alternative, she kept the phrase but mumbled the line to make the words harder to understand. For Sasha Alcott, writing for the Boston Herald, the song contains elements of "fierce head-banging sing-a-long" as well as gentle whimsy. About "When I Was a Painter", the next track, Lamacq was struck by Deal's gruff vocals and praised its stop-start guitar riff. Critic Rob Sheffield named the song as a highlight of the album in the Spin Alternative Record Guide, and Piers Clifton interpreted it as being about strange or otherwise unsatisfying sex. Side 2 of the LP version starts with "Fortunately Gone", which Lamacq described as an appealing pop-flavored opening for the album's second half. Deal had originally practiced the song with Kelley several years previously.