Images Conjured up by Tom Waits' Music

For today's MusicMonday I want to take a look at on old favorite of mine: Tom Waits. To be exact, it's not so much him, or his music that I find most interesting, but the imagery that comes into my mind when I hear those tunes. It's something old and forgotten this exceptional artist has tapped into, something from the deep underbelly of our culture. It is by no means pretty, which may be why we want to ignore it, but it is there, none the less, affecting us whether we want it or not.

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A long time ago I got a kick out of "studying" Tom Waits. I would work my way through his entire discography, getting acquainted with each song, listening, thinking, and feeling it. Then I picked out the ones with the strongest effect on me, and put them together in a playlist. The sequence of the songs was important. It was not chronological, or alphabetical, but sort of followed the timeline of someone's life. Not mine, by any means, nor do I think it was Waits' life, though I can't be certain about it. It was rather once again something from our deep collective subconscious. In the end I had a playlist of over twenty songs. Here are a few key markers:

A Teenage Anthem: I Don't Wanna Grow Up

Who doesn't recall this catchy tune with a distorted guitar sound and a weird video of a devil riding a kid's bike? Okay, admittedly it may actually be the Ramones cover that most people are familiar with. Regardless, the song captures so well the existential angst of young people regarding what it means to be an adult... especially given how even most adults seemingly don't know or don't care about it. And no matter if we're talking about the 1940's, the 80's, or today, this issue seems to be the same throughout the ages, making this song truly timeless. (It first appeared on his 1992 album Bone Machine, just for the record.)

Leaving Your Comfort Zone: I'll be Gone

In a way, most people dream about leaving behind their home town, the place they've always known, and which they are probably completely fed up with. Once they are grown up (sometimes even before), people can easily get up and leave, though in practice it's often a lot harder than one would expect. To me this song, from his 1987 album Frank's Wild Years is about just that. The protagonist brags to his friends explaining that it's time for him to get going, out in the world, and do some amazing things. And while his passion may be fueled by alcohol and the attention of his friends, ultimately one can't ignore the strong sensation of fear of the unknown, and potential failure plaguing him.

Looking Back After Leaving: Shore Leave

For most folks, now as ever, the easiest, most straight forward way to leave their home town was through the military. In Shore Leave, from the 1983 album Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits illustrates perfectly how it is to look back longingly at the small world one left behind, not without a sense of nostalgia, especially given the bizarre appearance of the current surroundings of the unfamiliar. Marked by spoken lyrics to a background of strange sound effects, this type of performance is what makes Tom Waits great. It doesn't need to be musical, but the imagery conveys the feelings of the song very well.

Settling Down and Getting Married: Innocent When You Dream and Please Wake Me Up

After returning from serving overseas, it is not uncommon for a soldier or sailor to go back to their hometown and marry their sweetheart... or find another sweetheart. In these two songs, however, this romantic endeavor of courtship is presented in a bit of a different light, both on the same album Frank's Wild Years. One can't help but feel a bit sorry for the desperate protagonist, mixed with a good amount of disgust, as he's confessing his love, yelling in drunken voice over the piano in a grimy bar, or hanging on to this idea of love, whether it's reciprocated or not. Is this the standard way of fighting for love? The question may be even scarier than the answer...

The Rise and Fall of a Happy Home: In the Neighborhood and Frank's Wild Years

In spite of all their teenage nonconformism, many people tend to end up exactly in what they used to rebel against: a big old tomb on Grant street (from the first song in this list). They may still not like it, but that's where life put them, and apparently that's what culture expected of them to do, so there! This feeling is expressed in a superb manner with the song In the Neighborhood. Usually this leads to mere resignation (with the help of a glass or two), but sometimes it ends up in extreme measures, just to tear off the shackles of suburbia, as the spoken lyrics of Frank's Wild Years illustrate. Despite the misleading title of the second song, the album both of these can be found on is Swordfishtrombones.

What's Beyond It All: Lucky Day, Cold Water, and Come On Up To The House

Before reaching the end, there is still a bit of life to be lived. The question is what is it going to bring? Is it hanging on to some jaded nostalgia towards some idealized past, as the song Lucky Day expresses, from the 1993 album The Black Rider? Again, the song deals with loving a woman, while admitting that she "can hold a candle to bumming around". Or is it actually embracing the act of bumming around, together with all the aspects of being a bum, as in Cold Water from 1999's Mule Variations? Or is it the feeling of being reborn, by discovering a purpose in a calling, religious or otherwise, as the song Come On Up To The House suggests?

Facing the Temporality an Mortality of Everything: Cold Cold Ground

One more song from Frank's Wild Years album, Cold Cold Ground is a lyrical testament to how nothing lasts, how everything fades away, that we're all going to die, including oneself. In this regard it's noteworthy how the music video shows some old footage of people, particularly children, which looks like it could be from the 40's or 50's. Only to imagine where those same children are today... Though there is no reason why they should not be around, there is also a good chance that they themselves are also in the cold cold ground.