“Regulations”

This poem illustrates the concept of “regulation gauges” that gives this section its title. These gauges involve being effectively in touch with your feelings, goals, and relationships as the executive in charge of your life. 

The poem uses this business metaphor to advocate for individual responsibility. Being the CEO of your life means investing and negotiating with yourself; you must also “[a]dminister yourself” (Line 10) and “[o]wn yourself” (Line 13). Getting life in balance is thus based on deep self-knowledge and commitment to taking action when necessary, always remaining your best self, and paying due attention to everything important. 

“Heartline”

According to McConaughey, your “heartline” is the connection between your actions and your values. If there is no alignment between these outer and inner worlds, dissatisfaction will result. 

The poem is autobiographical. McConaughey writes in a note below the poem that he wrote it when he was successful professionally, but did not find his work meaningful. In the poem, this unsatisfactory success is conveyed via a locomotion metaphor: “I’ve been running from my soul / skating on the surface” (Lines 1-2). Therefore, as he says in the note, he had to “throw a jackknife into my habitual rituals” (88) and make a change. By viewing his life from a wider perspective, he got it back in harmony with his “heartline” (Line 9), or the deeper values he cherishes. 

“On the Outskirts of Town”

The contrast between life in the city and life in the country, almost always to the advantage of the latter, has been a traditional poetic theme for millennia, ranging from ancient Roman poet Horace’s Epodes 2, composed in the 30s BC, to Canadian poet Elizabeth Brewster’s paean to rural origins, “Where I Come From,” from the 1950s. 

McConaughey's version calls the country the “outskirts” of town. By the speaker’s every measure, the outskirts are better. There is less hurry, no lines, less traffic and less crime, and none of the “clever snark” (Line 17) of the city. In the outskirts there is less ambition and more generosity; the city is a transactional rat race of “I’ll do this if you do that” (Line 24). In the outskirts, no one is defined by their wealth, and honor is more prominent than pride. The outskirts are closer to the American dream rather than the “illusion” (Line 45) promoted by the city because they offer belonging rather than exclusivity: “[G]eneral admission” (Line 58) is more common than “memberships” (Line 57). 

In the outskirts, common sense trumps lawsuits: There are fewer fences and also somehow less trespassing; marijuana is more popular than cocaine; there is more choice and fewer rules. People have better manners and are less “edgy” (Line 77). They may still be “tired” (Line 86) but they are no longer “exhausted” (Line 85). Finally, religious faith is more common in the outskirts than in the city, where people are more scientifically oriented and demand proof before believing. There are also fewer cynics, although people can still be “a little skeptic” (Line 102); the destructive lies of the city are replaced by the more entertaining “BS” (Line 110) of rural storytelling.  

“Tips Included”

The premise of the poem is that people should earn what they get rather than have things handed to them. The poem’s speaker rails against undeserved rewards, or “tips.” Without effort, there is no benefit; giving people things without demanding much in return cannot lead to personal growth. Passively trusting in the benevolence of fate is a mistake; we must not “take our hands off the wheel” (Line 27) as we steer along life’s highway.  

In an analogy, the poem compares cooking and eating. A buffet we did not prepare is “a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA” (Lines 31-32)—or subpar preparation rated much higher than it merits. It would be better to learn how to cook, empowering ourselves, not just accepting gifts from others. In a different metaphor of physical fitness, the poem stresses the importance of struggle to achievement: “[Y]ou keep liftin’ it for me / I’ll lose all my might” (Lines 23-24). 

“Life and Candy Crush”

McConaughey enjoys Candy Crush, the popular and famously addictive digital puzzle game in which players match candies. He describes his game strategy as one of long-term planning: 

You’ll find it best to decline the first offer 

in the barter of any exchange. 

Because a better one will soon follow, 

And you can win more games (Lines 13-16). 

According to the poem, the game “teaches fiscal responsibility, / how to save and how to spend” (Lines 1-2) and also “time management, / how to make up your own mind in measured time” (Lines 17-18). 

“Hills”

As McConaughey states in the note below the poem, “hills are just necessary parts of life’s terrain, there for the climbing” (103). This metaphor for obstacles or challenges recurs in the first line of the poem, which describes the need to go up hills “[w]hen they are no longer in our way but on it” (Line 1). 

The poem advocates facing difficulties head on. Life can be a hard climb, but the hills must be there for a reason. They may slow us down but they can help us be “on time” (Line 5) more figuratively, because we are working toward accomplishing whatever needs to be done and making progress rather than avoiding the task. 

The final line is printed in bold, emphasizing the importance of its message that we are individually responsible for determining our direction: “[N]o one can take us home if we don’t know where we’re going” (Line 6). 

“Placebos”

In medicine, a placebo is a non-therapeutic control administered to some patients during drug trials to determine the efficacy of the real drug being tested. Typically, although a placebo does nothing on its own, patients given placebos report feeling some relief—a well-known psychological effect. 

In this poem, the “placebos” McConaughey describes are short-term mood boosters like “retail therapy”(Line 2), drugs, and “attention” (Line 2). He argues that these psychological tricks people use to soothe the pain and turmoil of human life are a false stand-in for more appropriate interventions, such as actually dealing with the challenges and learning from them. 

McConaughey is opposed to the idea of “[t]rying to entertain my way to heaven” (Line 1), or using meaningless distractions to avoid dealing with real and complex issues. The supposed stress relief that comes with empty fun leads only to “our spiritual degrade” (Line 6). The theme of the poem is that it is better to face obstacles without dulling our experience: “Be scared, / but don’t be afraid” (Lines 21-22). Resorting to placebos hinders growth.