each other all the time. The same four guys who were probably not on a creative high at the time." The album was completed in early April 1984. Music and lyrics In his book The Words and Music of Elvis Costello, author James E. Perone states that the music on Goodbye Cruel World offers a "commercial, conventional pop sound" tied to the "prevailing trends of the time". In his review of the album for The New York Times, Stephen Holden wrote that it contains "a freewheeling dictionary of pop and rock references that run from Memphis soul to slinky pop-jazz, from Fats Domino to Burt Bacharach to the Beatles." He dubbed the sound "trebly, carnival pop". Costello himself said in the 1995 liner notes the record has a "lack of rock 'n' roll". Author Mick St. Michael found the music more melancholy than Punch the Clock. The album's lyrics reflect Costello's personal upheavals at the time and are mostly downbeat. Tracks such as "Worthless Thing", "The Deportees Club", "Joe Porterhouse", "The Comedians" and "The Great Unknown" all hint at his "unhappiness" and "self-disgust"; disillusionment also runs throughout several, including "The Deportees Club" and "The Great Unknown". According to Rolling Stone Don Shewey, side one mostly concerns relationships and side two is pervaded by political commentary. Costello said that the stories are "dense and obscure" but "can't disguise the fears, doubts and desires". Holden stated they portray a "corrupt world where lovers are the dupes of their illusions and the urges to love and power are inextricable". In his book God's Comic, biographer David Gouldstone found various repeated lyrical themes and subjects from previous records. Side one Album opener "The Only Flame in Town" is an R&B-influenced song that Circus magazine's John Swenson compared to the "contemporary blue-eyed soul sound" of Hall & Oates, which he felt offered a good circumstance for Hall's guest appearance. With a prevalent saxophone sound, the narrator unsuccessfully attempts to convince himself he is unconcerned of his former lover's new boyfriend. Gouldstone finds similar lyrical retreads dating back to 1977's "I'm Not Angry". "Home Truth" is a ballad that extends "themes of emotional realism" from Imperial Bedroom. With depressing lyrics dealing with marital breakdown, Perone finds it partly autobiographical, appearing to relate to Costello's own failing marriage. "Room with No Number" is about a dishonest love affair-turned-violent taking place at a motel. Gouldstone writes its main