The sweet “I Wanna Know” longs to please a special lady by learning what makes her smile. With help from ’N Sync, Joe expresses lasting love on the tender ballad “I Believe in You.” Men are urged to do little things that make a woman feel like a queen (“Treat Her Like a Lady”).
Smooth love songs give way to salacious, often explicit propositions. On “5 6 3 Joe,” the artist tempts a woman to leave her man and join him for exotic sexual adventures. His desire to be “the other man” also appears on “Black Hawk.” There’s lots of talk about “sexing” willing females and hearing them moan. Any location will do, from the backseat of a car (“Thank God I Found You”) to a kitchen floor (“Somebody Gotta Be on Top”) to four-star hotels (“One Life Stand”) to beneath a waterfall (“5 6 3 Joe”). Food metaphors describe a couple feasting on each other (“Table for Two”). With little regard for the girl as a person, Joe wants to get busy with a stranger whose amorous reputation precedes her (“Get Crunk Tonight”). Sexual slang is common.
Raging hormones rule. And while Joe doesn’t call women “b–ches” or sing about smacking them around, he’s still misogynistic. Indeed, when this prowling dog describes (in graphic fashion) how he wants to pleasure a partner, it all sounds very self-centered—a means to his own gratification. This atmosphere of casual sex and wily opportunism makes even the disc’s positive love songs seem insincere. Teens would do well to forget this man’s Name.
