melodies." Lyrics As was becoming standard practice for the Choir, the lyrics on Circle Slide reflected what was going on in Hindalong's life at that time. As he explained, "I don’t know even how to write songs about other people’s problems. It’s funny to me that so much of music in Christian circles are about other people's problems, about how to fix other people. And If I can find something profound, looking honestly at myself, maybe it'll inspire somebody and it'll touch something in them." Because of the impact of the band's non-stop touring and recording, Hindalong's marriage was "in crisis," and this informed many of the tracks on the album. "A Sentimental Song" was written as apology to his then-wife, Nancy. "I still sometimes cry when I play this song live," Hindalong said. "I feel sad; I love Nancy, but I've hurt her a lot. And she's hurt me, too — like we do to each other, the people that we're closest to." "About Love" was written on the day the band left to go on tour for Wide-Eyed Wonder, "when Emily was just about a year old. Nancy was pregnant; I had just found out about a day before we left. We both cried." The original lyric to the chorus was, "there’s something pitiful about love," but at the last minute, Hindalong changed it to "'there’s something wonderful about love,' as it's about the irony and the tension." "Merciful Eyes" addressed infidelity, "and how sometimes we avoid eye contact with God, which makes it easier for us to rationalize our misbehavior." Bracketing these songs of domestic discord were two tracks that expressed optimism in the face of difficulty: "Circle Slide" was inspired by Hindalong's childhood memories of amusement park slides that one would ride down on gunny sacks. A non-stop circular slide that didn't require climbing back up to repeatedly ride would be "the closest thing to heaven that I could imagine," Hindalong said. The album's closing track, "Restore My Soul," expressed hope in the process of Christian sanctification. "We like to say that we talk about heaven and we talk about earth," Hindalong explained. "We don't talk about heaven on earth, because we don’t think that exists." Artwork and packaging Inspired by the lyrics of "Blue Skies," the cover art for Circle Slide was a sepia-toned photograph of a diorama, which featured a lone tree with a