The author argues that Perth, Western Australia's, loss of innocence, especially after the murders in the 1960s by Eric Cooke and those in the 1980s by Catherine and David Birnie, is reflected in McComb's lyrics which 'can be read as a metaphor for the experience of a lost utopia that continues to haunt the cultural life of Perth.' The criticism includes brief references to the work of Veronica Brady, Peter Cowan, Philip Masel and Dorothy Hewett.