Although the duo's characteristic usage of puns and "twisted cliches" feature in the album's lyrics, the record nonetheless offers "some straightforward, succinct observations," with several songs being more introspective than before and tackling personal subjects. One review described the lyrics as showing the duo "railing in highly amusing dudgeon at fascists, political strife, war, ethnic cleansing, moral collapse, royal celebrations, racists, unnamed people you would have to be English to recognize, pop stars, pop songs and a whole lot more." There are only three references to London on the album, much less than on previous albums. "A Bachelor for Baden Powell", about a young boy's attempt to avoid the "roving hands of his scoutmaster", is among the personal songs, based on an incident that happened to Bob as a child. Bob wrote the song as "almost a joke", explaining "the whole thing seemed pretty funny to me. Maybe it was some kind of relief. Until I wrote that song, I hadn't told anyone. And the way I chose to tell someone was by telling absolutely everyone. I had to broadcast it."