Nezgirl, I love your artwork. I think my favorite is Randy Scouse Git Mike.
You may be right about the lyrics not being personal, but it's fun to speculate, since we're never gonna know for sure. And I'd be really surprised if most of them are not from life experience. They're seldom your usual run of the mill love songs. I want to believe, anyway, though I may be way off base, that those lyrics are a window to his mind and the way he thinks. But wait! It gets even crazier! I think that sometimes the lyrics are Mike talking to Mike, giving encouragement, and sometimes self-criticism. It's as if he gives himself little pep talks. Does it seem to anyone else that in alot of his songs, there's an enemy, trying to extinguish his "light"? The "they" of "Keys to the Car"? Or in "Roll With The Flow", "These are two fine examples
Of the way that I handled
The pressure that tried to draw me away from the light
And in the final analysis
It's foolish if you resist
The changes that come into your everyday life
There might be some trepidation
But don't let hesitation
Deprive you of hope and try to replace it with fear
Just roll with the flow
Wherever it goes
Even if it rolls
Outta here"

Or in "Keep On", "with a gentle overturning
Of the darkness for the light
Extend yourself with caution to the call
And should tomorrow find you moving slowly
Through the night
Don't let their cries of terror make you fall"

I know there are other examples, but it's late and I can't look them up right now.
So, am I crazy? Does anybody else notice this?
Chris
"We just want to be revered by a small minority."Davy, "Your Friendly Neighborhood Kidnappers"