whilst there was some speculation that "living type" was "a cheesy, angsty love song", powderfinger's lead singer, bernard fanning (who wrote the song), said it was actually about charles manson, and the people affected by his cult. fanning said that he was unable to control what people thought about the song, and so didn't try, but that "cheesy love song" that it had been dubbed was "not the intention" of the song. in a subsequent interview, fanning told "juice" that people had been asking him if "living type" was about menstruation, which he dismissed as being "so stupid". however, he also re-iterated his statement that he was unable to control interpretations of the song, saying that "people have a freedom to think what they like".