We thought it'd be more interesting to have a bit of background on the songs, so we asked Michael to give us a blurb of what the songs either meant to him or what may have been going on at the time the song was written.

To see the lyrics, click the song title.

1. Step By Step

"This song started basically about the walk of a woman and its effect on a man. I do love the way women walk! It ended up branching off into different forms of addiction. Trace got some amazing guitar sounds on this one."

"This song is about something called "the contagion of abberation"¹ where one, or many fucked-up things get passed along to the next generation, then the next, etc., etc. And they usually have nothing to do with the generation that's being given the bullshit. In this instance, Jennifer takes her hatred of her Ex out on her child - who had nothing to do with his taking off. It happens way too much."

"This is a love song - or a sex song. Sometimes they're interchangable. The idea that you love someone so much that you just want to be inside them totally, filling every part, like water."

"I was just recalling feelings of not fitting in, or just general ennui. Thinking you need to find something to help you go on. This is one of those songs that at one point it felt like I was trying to tackle a subect in just one song that is way too big, but I tried anyway. It's one of my favorites."

"This song is about the effects of drug abuse on the people around the user. Very close to home."

"Life is one, isn't it? This songs has one of my favorite parts Orlando (Bass) played. I wanted the melody in the verses to be as cool as that bass part!"

"This was how I was feeling during the whole Columbia shake-up. We were left with no one that we knew, or felt like we could trust."

"This is how I figured junkies would be in love: genuine emotions interspersed with simple madness! This is a song that came to me - completed - in my sleep. I woke up, went to the recorder and brought it to the band the next day. I dig when that happens."

"Many people hear this song and think it's "Lyin'" which wouldn't be far from the sentiment of the lyrics, but it's a Wizard of Oz reference. This song was written for a number of people who used to be part of our team, and we found out (too late) that they were just like the Cowardly Lion - all roar until someone stood up to him. Pathetic really. If there's one thing I learned from all of what we've been through, it's think for yourself - live and die for what you believe."

"Orlando brought this music in and I thought, wow, that's deep. It was overwhelming at first for some reason. And it made me work hard to have the words match what I felt the music was already saying. The different parts just seemed to mirror the emotions we ALL go through. Lyrically, this is my anti-"mental treatment" song. I'm not a big mental "health" fan and lately I've been hearing about way too many bills being proposed that are trying to force anyone that has any of a really broad palette of "symptoms" to be "treated" (institutionalized and/or drugged) against their will. It's too scary.

Kids are unfortunately already on the short end of the stick. Too many parents are so out of touch with their kids that they turn to the misguided (and over-prescribing) mental "health" industry for the answers. The problem is, they're even more out of touch - and can be downright deadly. I give you Columbine.

This song was my idea of the crying out that occurs when someone is told they have a problem and need to see someone about it. I had someone once suggest that I should seek some help because I was having some problems at the time. I stopped talking to them then and it's amazing how much better I've felt ever since. So, the trouble I was having turned out to be them.

Another of my favorites."

"'I Don't Know Why' is special to me because it was written with a couple different things in mind. The first is that I was thinking of the DC/Baltimore area and how much fun we had there and what an amazing reception we'd always gotten. No offense to any of the other amazing places we loved to go to, but the DC/Balto area bought more records and had bigger crowds by far than any other market. Anyway, I wanted to write about how it all made me feel and how I missed playing there - and how frustrating the whole Columbia experience was that we were going through. It was like - 'but we belong, don't we? I Don't Know Why, but I know we belong in DC.' The last verse is how I felt about playing the Chili Cookoff (DC) and the Shizznit (Balto).

I also wanted to do it all without rhyming!"

"Unfortunately, I had a friend take his own life and it threw me for quite a loop. It's still something I can't quite comprehend. Some people see the glass half-full and some see it half-empty.

This is a live recording - we used to play it during big or special shows on the road with Toby (like in Huntington, WV when I just about passed out at the end of it - luckily it was the encore!)."

"I've done way too many interviews with this song being the center of attention. Let's just say that we shouldn't believe everything 'they' say."

To find out more about "The Contagion of Abberation" and other social ailments, and how they can be stopped, read Dianetics^® by L. Ron Hubbard, or visit www.dianetics.org