"There are some ugly days on this record, to be sure, from "Song About Home"—written during an unhappy stint living on the West Coast in the Olympia apartment complex —to "Where The Hell Are All My Friends"—an apocalyptic, Tom Waits-esque musing on time spent alone—but Tolchin takes the lesson to heart and always pushes deeper to find moments of transcendence and redemption.He embraces change and uncertainty throughout the record, singing "All the wise men say / That they know nothing at all" on "Workin' Man Blues #22" and surrendering himself to the all-encompassing power of true love on "Completely," which features Joaquin Cooder on drums.