The lyrics to "Hey, Johnny Park!" song follow a series of different themes ("about 15 different things", according to Grohl). Johnny Park is the name of one of Grohl's childhood friends; he noted, "we were like brothers from the age of 5 to 12" and that he named the song after Park in hopes that he might restore contact with him. "My Poor Brain" experiments with different dynamics, both musically and lyrically in nature. Grohl likened the disparity in sounds to changes from Jackson Five to Black Sabbath. Grohl described the concept of "Wind Up" as about successful musicians who constantly complain about their lives to the press. He elaborated, "It drives me insane when I hear musicians that don't understand how fortunate they are that they don't have to go and pump gas for twelve hours a day. They can sit on their couch and smoke pot, and complain to their friends that they hate it when someone comes up and says that he likes their band... there are two sides: there's the reluctant rock-star, and then there is the prying journalist that almost lives for the reluctant rock-star, it's just talking "about the hand you've been dealt." Every time I hear about "the hand you've been dealt," it drives me fucking nuts, spare me your confessions... I've had so many fucking bullshit jobs for the half of my life—you know, working in furniture warehouses and planting trees, painting houses—and it's a lot more fun to play music."