I’ve heard him say live a few times this is about Rob Thomas’ ex-wife (I’m pretty sure).. sounds like he’s saying it’s about his father here.. anyone know the deal??
He does say in concert it's about Rob Thomas's first wife. Although James is rarely serious on stage (and I'm not convinced it's not linked to them regularly playing the riff from Smooth as a breakdown between some songs), so I'm inclined to take it more seriously in an interview setting. To be honest, I don't know for definite what half of the Slang songs are about, and what they mean to James, but what with he lets out about his background, I'm gonna guess that most are influenced by his difficult start.