Editing Fabulous Muscles (section)

==Themes and lyrics==

''Fabulous Muscles'' is populated by dark themes, including [[Depression (mood)|depression]], [[physical abuse]], [[mental abuse]], and [[drug addiction]].<ref name=popmatters />

[[Jamie Stewart (American musician)|Jamie Stewart]] told ''Pitchfork'' that the tone of the album reflected the events of their personal life, which were "incredibly, incredibly violent, incredibly jarring and difficult to take... and personally and politically extreme in black and white ways".<ref name="Pitchfork 2006" /> Their next studio album, ''The Air Force'', reflects their experience internalizing the trauma of that period.<ref name="Pitchfork 2006" />

The album's title track was inspired by the [[Iceberg Slim]] novel ''Mama Black Widow'' and describes an abusive relationship between a [[Muscle worship|muscle-worshiping]] Stewart and a hyper-masculine man.<ref>{{Citation|title=Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles + Drunk Commentary|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejhA2D4C6Wc|language=en|access-date=2022-01-15}}</ref> The song "Brian the Vampire" is based on a child Stewart encountered during their time as a preschool teacher in [[California]]. According to Stewart, "His whole family lived in one garage and his older brother ... was molesting Brian at night while the whole family was sleeping in the room."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.neumu.net/datastream/2004/2004-00020/2004-00020_datastream.shtml|title=+++ neumu [ datastream ]|website=Neumu.net|access-date=Feb 17, 2025}}</ref> The penultimate "Clowne Towne" sees Stewart reflect on the current statuses of friends from their teens and young adulthood (such as [[Perfume Genius|Michael Hadreas]] of Perfume Genius or fellow Xiu Xiu member Caralee McElroy) and how they compare to their own. "Mike" is a tribute to Stewart's late father [[Michael Stewart (musician)|Michael Stewart]], who committed suicide in 2002, while "Support Our Troops OH! (Black Angels OH!)" is about Stewart's distaste about soldiers serving in the [[Iraq War]].<ref name=BaltInterview>Goldberg, Michael. [http://www2.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=5327 For Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart, the Personal is Political is Permissible for Creative License]. 17 March 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2011</ref>