Disc 1 track 7

To this point, a full 50% of the songs on The Bottle Rockets have been about being horny, either in a silly or a desperate fashion. “Got What I Wanted” flips the script, checking in on a man glumly realizing what all these hormones have gotten him; this song could easily be the narrator of “Trailer Mama” waking up the next morning hung over and full of regret.

It’s not the most profound song ever written—few Bottle Rockets songs are in contention for most profound song ever written—but it’s an interesting contrast to the prevailing mood of the album; it also does the nice trick of adding some seriousness without going as deeply into grimness as “Kerosene” (which, like this one, was co-written by Henneman and Scott Taylor; Taylor seems to be Henneman’s go-to partner for contemplative acoustic pieces). And as far as that goes, it’s not a bad real-world message to put out into the world: remember, getting what you think you want may have consequences. The song does wander into awkward territory with a clunky Elvis-shouting-out bridge, but the recovery is quick and complete.

As fits the subject matter (marriage of form and content is a big Bottle Rockets strength), “Got What I Wanted” is quiet and sparse; for much of it we just hear Henneman’s mournful vocal and a tightly-strummed acoustic guitar. Ortmann uses country brushes all of the way through, and provides what counts as sonic dynamics for the song by expanding and contracting his drum parts.

The end of “Got What I Wanted” marks the end of the first half of the album. The good news is that everything so far has been great, either fun or impressive or both. The bad news is that streaks end.