The lack of a hit would become an albatross around Westerberg’s neck. “You don’t get to choose,” said Baird. “There are people who’ll tell me: ‘Oh, you wrote “Hands” . . . that is such a cute song.’ And they’ll come up to Paul, and talk about ten different songs: ‘That one broke my heart; this other one tore me up; that song hit me where I lived.’ Not many people get that kind of response.”
