clashes with nasty lyrics. Similar to Trust "Clubland", the setting is in a nightclub, depicting the breakdown of a marriage. According to Gouldstone, its main theme is "the difficulty of living a happy life", expressed through the description of a disappointing relationship. "The Invisible Man" refers to H. G. Wells' 1897 novel of the same name and its 1933 film adaptation. Assembled from three earlier tracks, the song deals with, in Gouldstone's words, the "dehumanisation of modern life". In the song, the main character escapes the reality of daily life by watching films; he is the "invisible man" as he feels outcast by people around him, leading him to imagine a nightmarish totalitarian world. "Mouth Almighty" is about a man who cannot control his tongue, which drives his lover away. Gouldstone compares it to some of Imperial Bedroom songs, such as "Human Hands". Costello described "King of Thieves" as "a tricky tune about the trials of a blacklisted songwriter". Filled with vague lyrics and a sense of paranoia, Gouldstone argues that the song belongs with Costello's other tracks that denounce the treatment of big business on everyday people, from "Welcome to the Working Week" (1977), "Senior Service" (1979) and "Opportunity" (1980). "King of Thieves" is sinister like "The Invisible Man", and similar to 1978's "Night Rally", represents a warning, "foreseeing a world ruled by bureaucracies and unelected despots". St. Michael compares its complex arrangement to the ones on Imperial Bedroom. "Pills and Soap" provides social commentary on the "abuse of animals as pets and exhibits in factory farming and scientific research". Inspired by The Animals Film (1981), which had turned Costello vegetarian, Costello saw Britain heading in this direction during the era of Thatcherism. Gouldstone comments that it "paints a horrifying picture of the cutthroat free-market economy the Conservatives are trying to create". The music reinforces the lyrical themes; the author describes its "unrelenting" drumbeat sounding like "a march to the death camps", and crashing piano chords that "fall like doom". According to Costello, the beat was inspired by Grandmaster Flash's 1982 hip hop song "The Message". "The World and His Wife" focuses on family life and marks a return to an R&B style. Costello stated that it was "re-written from a solemn folk song about a drunken family gathering into a bilious knees-up". Providing a musical uplift as the LP's closer, Hinton argues that the lyrics culminate the album's