Wipe That Smile off Your Face could be the leader of a country, or it could be the bully in the schoolyard. It could be the nasty teacher that you had, could be the leader of the United States, or it could be a terrorist. You can take it how you want to.- Duncan Coutts, Ottawa Citizen, 27 Aug. 2005

Jeremy: Well, I think if you look at that song as a metaphor, it can be any politician that has done something where they've hurt the little person underneath them. Not even the little person, the big people. Um, it could be anybody, ya know?

Duncan: It doesn't even necessarily have to be about a politician.

Jeremy: Yeah, it's just anybody that is undermining what you're doing and is doing something knowing exactly what they're doing as it's happening and they're waving to you everyday like "no problem." It could be a guy in your neighborhood that is like a sick person taking advantage of you. It happens all over the place. I mean you can direct it right to the top or you can take it right next door, you know?- Jeremy Taggart and Duncan Coutts, Circle Six Magazine, 29 Aug. 2005

George Bush was definitely a launch pad for it. That’s for sure. It’s not just an anti-Bush song. That would be a big part of it. But you can also interpret it as anybody who lies to your face and does it with a smile or a smirk, which politicians have done to us a lot of times. A lot of different people in your life may do that to you. It’s more of that whole context.- Steve Mazur, andPOP, 13 Oct. 2005

You know what, I think it could be about a schoolyard bully, it could be about a nasty teacher... it could be taken a number of ways. But I think it has something to do with that little smirk that.. he [George W. Bush] gets.- Duncan Coutts, The Knight News, 17 Oct. 2005