Tom Waits’ long career has been marked by an aversion to explicitly political music. Dim light bulbs and graveyards, rifles that ring out at dawn, mules and very tall men, old dogs, old people, Oldsmobiles—all have been celebrated in Waits’ songs. Never, though, has the eccentric and impossibly rugged-voiced singer waded into unabashed political commentary. Which is why it’s stunning… return to article
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Reader Comments (5)Page 1 of 1 pagesYou are trashing a good song by branding it a political commentary. It could apply to any war, at any time, any place. Where did you find any reference to Iraq, or that it referred to a current war??
I hope Tom is too smart to join the political arena.
Posted by sal on Nov 10, 2004 at 7:17 PM Reaction on comment by Sal posted on Nov 10:
Given the fact that, before ‘Tomorrow’, Waits had never written any policital song, there must have been a seriously good reason for him to do so now. And he arguably couldn’t find a better reason than the war in Iraq. Now, by omitting explicit references to that war, Waits may have made the song more generally applicable to any war indeed. But that doesn’t mean the listener should refrain from reflecting on the real political background that inspired the author. Wars existed in real life before they became a part of myths and tales…
Posted by Phil on Nov 14, 2004 at 6:43 AM Pretty heady stuff for the guy who used to be the lead singer of Bad English. No?
Posted by Noril Bennett on Nov 15, 2004 at 1:53 PM Re: Phils Nov 14 post
The assumption that it was politics and not war that inspired the lyrics is not valid, at least not until we hear from the Man. War is hell, worth writing about; politics is BS.....
Posted by sal on Nov 15, 2004 at 8:43 PM This post is to Noril Bennett: Just to let you know, you’re a little mixed up. JON WAITE was the singer of Bad English, Tom Waits is a completely different (and infinitely more talented) guy.
To echo some other comments here, I have been a huge Tom Waits fan for years, and this is the first time I’ve heard him make anything close to a political statement (although he did manage to sneak in a subtle jab on Bill Clinton on “Mule Variations"). To me, this illustrates the depth of emotion that war is capable of provoking. Shock and awe, if you will… (sigh...)
Posted by Rick S. on Nov 17, 2004 at 7:09 AM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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