Stipe explained in 1984 that when he started writing lyrics they were like "simple pictures", but after a year he grew tired of the approach and "started experimenting with lyrics that didn't make exact linear sense, and it's just gone from there."
I 1984 forklarede Stipe, at han da begyndte med at skrive sangtekster var de "simple billeder", men efter et år blev han træt af denne tilgang og "begyndte at eksperimentere med tekster der ikke hav nogen lineær mening, og er bare fortsat derfra."