Verlaine's lyrics on "Marquee Moon" combine urban and pastoral imagery. Although it is not a concept album, many of its songs make geographical references to Lower Manhattan. According to Bryan Waterman, author of the 33⅓ book on the record, it celebrates stern adolescence in the urban pastoral mode. Its urban nocturne theme is derived from poetic works about Bohemian decadence. According to "Spin", the album is about urban mythology; Verlaine brought "a sentimental romanticism to the Bowery, making legends out of the mundane". The lyrics also incorporate maritime imagery, including the paradoxical "nice little boat made out of ocean" in "See No Evil", the waterfront setting in "Elevation", sea metaphors in "Guiding Light", and references to docks, caves, and waves in "Prove It".