Responding to the songwriters' denials of a conscious lyric theme, Nick Kent observed the album's lyrics show "the male participant's attempts at coming to terms with himself and the world about him" and that every song "pinpoints a crisis of faith in love and life" with the exception of "Sloop John B" and the two instrumental pieces. Writing in his book "The Making of Pet Sounds" (2003), Charles Granata referenced "Sloop John B" and "Pet Sounds" as the tracks that undermine the album's "thematic thread" and supposed lyrical narrative, yet "contribute to the marvelous pacing".