 Eno has also said the album is about " paint [ ing ] a picture of the human trying to survive in an increasingly digital world ; " themes that are explored in this song . " Strange Overtones " has been described as " a song about writing a song " — the subject of the song struggles to write innovative music , but is overheard by a neighbor using beats that are " twenty years old . " In terms of the genre of music , both Byrne and Eno have called it " electronic Gospel " — the backing tracks are the kind of electronic music for which Eno is known , paired with hopeful and inspiring lyrics from Byrne — this song in particular features an uptempo backing track . Eno had been thinking about Gospel for several years , but couldn 't write lyrics to hopeful songs . 
