A More Perfect Union

Spoken word at the beginning of the song is from Abraham Lincoln's speech addressed to the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, IL, January, 1838.

The line 'Tramps like us baby we were born to die' is a reference to Springsteen's 'Born to Run'. Springsteen, like Titus, is from NJ and probably a big influence of theirs, since he is thanked in The Monitor liner notes.

Another line " No, I never wanted to change the world, but I'm looking for a new New Jersey" is a reference to Billy Bragg's song New England.

This song is full of references to New Jersey, so if you are not local and something does not make sense to you, here are the explanatory notes:

- The Garden State Parkway is the busiest toll highway in the US.
- The Fung Wah bus is a Chinese bus company running between Boston and New York. It is known for its low fares, so it is very popular with students, or struggling musicians like Titus Andronicus.
- Fenway is Fenway Park baseball stadium in Boston.
- The Newark Bears are a New Jersey baseball team in the CanAm League.
- 17 and 84 are both highways.
- The Merritt Parkway is another parkway between New York and Connecticut, running towards Boston.
- The Great Pine Barrens is a heavily forested area in southern Nj. The Garden State Parkway runs through it.
- 02143 is the zip code for Somerville, Massachussets.
- Jeff Davis is referring to Jefferson Davis.
- John Brown's Body is a marching song often sung by the Union in the Civil War.