Rodriguez didn't become a huge cult figure for nothing; he had more knockout songs on a mere two albums than most other Singer Songwriters can dream about.
- From Cold Fact:
- "I Wonder", and its Epic Riff of a bassline, is a mercilessly sardonic breakup song.
- "Crucify Your Mind" is also a breakup song, but it takes a more defeated tone, with a more melodic arrangement.
- "Sugar Man", as songs about drugs go, could give Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" a run for its money. The production goes for broke with the spacey effects and reverb as the protagonist gets his fix, and fittingly, at the end, he just starts all over again as the song fades out.
- "This Is Not A Song, It's An Outburst: Or, The Establishment Blues" is Rodriguez' take on Three Chords and the Truth. Just Rodriguez chugging away at a few chords while he rants in a bitter monotone about corrupt politicians, misogyny, crime, pollution and the general Crapsack World he lives in.
- From Coming From Reality:
- There are two versions of "I'll Slip Away", but the one on the bonus track version of Coming From Reality is the definitive one — a Tear Jerker of a song about disappearing into the ether after life has screwed the protagonist one too many times. Rodriguez' dejected vocal just puts the cap on it.
- "I Think Of You" is a beautiful love song out of a normally very cynical singer.
- "Sandrevan Lullaby/Lifestyles" is split between a warm, guitar-based piece that lives up to the "lullaby" part, and a more traditional Rodriguez song, this time in a minor key, about society falling apart at the seams. Somehow, these two parts are incredibly effective and moving when put together.
- "Cause" is the last song Rodriguez recorded before his career fell apart in the 70s, and it's a beautiful song about the aforementioned Crapsack World taking him down in the end, with the strings adding a lot of warmth.
