Daugherty said. "There weren’t a lot of bands doing that kind of thing." Daugherty also experimented with a wah-wah pedal, which was used on both "Look Out (For Your Own)" and "Children of Time." Michaels' saxophone solo at the end of the latter song was another example of "sabotage recording," as he put it, in which he was captured on tape doing warmups. This exact solo would be re-used again in "I’m Sorry I Laughed" on 2010's Burning Like the Midnight Sun. Hindalong also experimented with different percussion techniques. On "Look Out (For Your Own)," he used Blasticks (plastic-tipped drumsticks) on a custom drum setup inspired by Mick Fleetwood, using a floor tom and high hat on each side of the drum kit. Hindalong also took advantage of studio technology for the recording of "Cain," as he could not play the drums fast enough. Engineer Dave Hackbarth slowed the analog tape down so Hindalong could play along, which made the final performance sound much tighter at normal speed. Lyrics "Sad Face," with its transparent and vulnerable lyrics, proved to be the most impactful song on the album, as the band has received more mail about this song than anything else they have ever recorded, and it has become a live set list mainstay in the years since. Many of the other songs on the album also dealt with weighty topics, like mortality ("Children of Time"), the deadly power of words ("Cain"), the importance of caring for one’s eldest family members ("Look Out (For Your Own)") and disconnection from loved ones ("So Far Away"). "Clouds" was a key exception, with a strong worshipful mood. It was one of the last songs written for the album, and was inspired by a quote that Hindalong read in Oswald Chambers' devotional My Utmost for His Highest: "After the amazing delight and liberty of realizing what Jesus Christ does, comes the impenetrable darkness of realizing Who He is." Hindalong also drew upon imagery of clouds and thick darkness from Psalm 97:2. "The center of our music is the mystery of God, what we don't know, and accepting the fact that more and more will be revealed," he explained. The song then ends with a snippet of Daugherty's mother Louise singing a hymn at the church where his father served as pastor. "The Rifleman" juxtaposed spoken verses by a number of individuals, primarily road manager Marc