Numerous songs on "Blind Man's Zoo" were inspired by social issues and contemporaneous events, despite Merchant's limited knowledge of politics. Merchant said that most of the album stems from her recurring theme of betrayal. Music critic Anthony DeCurtis considered it "a starkly pessimistic statement" in contrast to the band's usual "greatest professional optimism". The first track, "Eat for Two", is about a teenage girl who is five months pregnant. Merchant did not intend for the song to have an anti-abortion message, and it does not address abortion. Buck played the guitar for the song while Augustyniak performed the percussion. "Blind Man's Zoo" second track, "Please Forgive Us", concerns the United States interventions in Central America, especially the Iran–Contra affair.