“‘Quotes’” is about a 2006 public controversy surrounding Stephin Merritt.

A 2004 list of seven favorite records he put together for a New York Times feature that only included work by white artists. New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones accused Merritt of having an anti-black bias, though there was no other major reaction to the list.

Then in 2006, a comment Merritt made on the catchiness of “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,” a song from 1946 condemned racist film “Song of the South.” Despite Merritt’s statement that the movie was terrible, negative press coverage only escalated. Droves of critics used the 2004 list as proof that Merritt was a racist.

Merritt maintains in “‘Quotes’” that his words were taken out of context and critics only used his statements to get attention for their articles. The lyrics also add to Merritt’s longstanding disregard for the Internet.