James Joyce used the word “sublime” to express the idea that some things just cannot be captured with words. They’re just too big. When poetry works, it is sublime. The reason I refrain from using the word “poetry” because I prefer Joyce’s alternative.

Tom Waits’ music, to me, is sublime. I cannot tell you why I love it so. When people ask me, “What kind of music does he make?” there really is no answer. You just have to hear it yourself. His combination of minimal music and profound lyrics… I cannot tell you what any of his songs are “about.” They aren’t “about” anything. When people ask me what one of his songs “means,” I have no answer. When you hear a Tom Waits song, it’s… well, it says what it says. It’s about what it’s about.

There are a few other artists like this. David Lynch (the director) makes movies that aren’t really “about” anything. They communicate and demand emotional, rather than intellectual, responses.

And then there’s Tori Amos.

I think the mistake people make with artists like Tori, David, and Tom is that they’re looking for a reason. They’re looking for meaning. What they don’t understand is the simple truth that the medium is it’s own meaning.

A lot of people have told me they can’t listen to Tom Waits because of his voice. Well, I know there are at least two Leonard Cohen fans on my friends list (you know who you are), but I also know there are more than a few Tori Amos fans, too.

And so, for you, my Tori-loving friends, I give you this gift. Tori Amos singing one of Tom Waits most beautiful, dark, and… sublime songs.

Here is Tori singing Tom.

Sublime.

(PS: My players would call this “Marcus’s Song.” He was rather fond of it.)

Time(1)
(Studio version)

The smart money’s(2) on Harlow, and the moon is in the street
And the shadow boys are breakin’ all the laws
And you’re east of East St. Louis(3), and the wind is making speeches
And the rain sounds like a round of applause

And Napoleon(4) is weepin’ in a carnival saloon
His invisible fiancee’s in the mirror
And the band is goin’ home, it’s rainin’ hammers, it’s rainin’ nails
And it’s true, there’s nothin’ left for him down here

And it’s time, time, time
And it’s time, time, time
And it’s time, time, time that you love
And it’s time, time, time

And they all pretend they’re orphans, and their memory’s like a train
You can see it gettin’ smaller as it pulls away
And the things you can’t remember tell the things you can’t forget
That history puts a saint in every dream

Well, she said she’d stick around until the bandages came off
But these mama’s boys just don’t know when to quit
And Matilda(4) asks the sailors, ‘Are those dreams or are those prayers?’
So close your eyes, son, and this won’t hurt a bit

Oh, it’s time, time, time
And it’s time, time, time
And it’s time, time, time that you love
And it’s time, time, time

Well, things are pretty lousy for a calendar girl
The boys just dive right off the cars and splash into the street
And when they’re on a roll(5), she pulls a razor from her boot
And a thousand pigeons fall around her feet

So put a candle in the window and a kiss upon his lips
As the dish outside the window fills with rain
Just like a stranger with the weeds in your heart
And pay the fiddler(6) off till I come back again

Oh, it’s time, time, time
And it’s time, time, time
And it’s time, time, time that you love
And it’s time, time, time

(1)Time:
TW: “Time: Time is a precious commodity” (Source: “Rain Dogs Island Promo Tape” (taped comments on songs as sent to radio stations). Date: late 1985)

(2)Smart money: 1a. Money bet or invested by those in the know, or by influential or wealthy people who are supposedly in a position to know that their bet or investment will be profitable (Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner) 1b. Money paid by a person to obtain exemption from some disagreeable office or duty; in law it means a heavy fine; and in recompense it means money given to soldiers or sailors for injuries received in the service. It either makes the person “smart,” i.e. suffer, or else the person who receives it is paid for smarting. (“The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable”, E. Cobham Brewer. © 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd)

(3)St. Louis: also mentioned in: I beg your pardon, 1982: “Please don’t go back to St. Louis, can’t you tell that I’m sincere.”, Train song, 1987: “Well I broke down in East St. Louis, on the Kansas City Line.” Hold on, 1999: “Well, God bless your crooked heart, St. Louis got the best of me.”
St. Louis: JV: Getting back to the names of places, St. Louis seems to pop up a lot, in “Hold on” from the new record and “Time” from Rain Dogs and you’ve mentioned it a lot in interviews. Ever live there? TW: “No, never lived there. It’s a good name to stick in a song. Every song needs to be anatomically correct: You need weather, you need the name of the town, something to eat – every song needs certain ingredients to be balanced. You’re writing a song and you need a town, and you look out the window and you see “St. Louis Cardinals” on some kid’s T-shirt. And you say, “Oh, we’ll use that.” (“The Man Who Howled Wolf “. Magnet: Jonathan Valania. June/July, 1999)

(4)Napoleon: On “The heart of Saturday night” Napoleon is credited for the cover illustration. According to Cal Schenkel Napoleon is the guy on the floor in front of the diner on the cover of “Nighthawks at the diner”. Also mentioned in Diamonds And Gold (Raindogs, 1985): “Small time Napoleon’s shattered his knees, But he stays in the saddle for Rose.”

(5)Matilda: Might be Waits is refering to Matilda from Tom Traubert’s Blues, 1976: “Waltzing Matilda, you’ll go waltzing Matilda with me.” The rhytmn and feeling of both songs are certainly alike

(6)Roll v.t.: 1a. To rob a drunk or sleeping person, usu. a drunk 1b. To rob any person, as by a hold-up, or esp. to rob a prostitute’s customer when he is sleeping or has left his clothing unwatched (Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner) 2. On a roll: phr. [1970s+] (orig. US gambling) on a winning streak, enjoying a period of success, whether lit. or fig. Roll: n. [1970s+] a spell of good fortune, a winning streak, whether lit. or fig. [roll, the roll of a dice] (“Cassell’s Dictionary Of Slang”. Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. ISBN: 0-304-35167-9). Also mentioned in Depot, Depot, 1974: “I’m on a roll, just like a pool ball, baby, Empty Pockets/ Purple Avenue, 1981 :”What happened to my roll, September fell right through the hole.”

(7)Fiddler/ piper, pay the: Who’s to pay the fiddler/ piper? The phrase comes from the tradition about the Pied Piper of Hameln, who agreed to cure the town of rats and mice; when he had done so, the people of Hameln refused to pay him, whereupon he piped again, and led all the children to Koppelberg Hill, which closed over them. From the corresponding French phrase, “payer les violons,” it would seem to mean who is to pay the fiddler or piper if we have a dance [on the green] (“The First Hypertext Edition of The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable”, E. Cobham Brewer. © 1997-99 Bibliomania.com Ltd)