Style: Experimental, many many genres
Primary Emotions/Themes: Nonsense, Frank's adventures, love lost, fatalism
Thoughts:
We sail tonight for Singapore
We're all as mad as hatters here
I've fallen for a tawny moor
Took off to the land of nod
Drank with all the chinamen
Walked the sewers of Paris
I danced along a colored wind
Dangled from a rope of sand
You must say goodbye to me
I don't know if Tom Waits had a fever dream while writing Rain Dogs or if he was experiencing a moment of clarity. Whatever was happening, he created one of the finest albums in modern music.
I can't adequately summarize this album. I will not be able to write down my thoughts accurately. This album is one of my all time favorites and I know my words will never do it justice. Tom Waits is a musical genius, and Rain Dogs is his magnum opus. Nothing comes close to touching this.
Very much like Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs is all over the place musically. Some songs sound like they are sung by a drunken sailor - the first track Singapore is a prime example of this. Some tracks are more gruff an have a more straight forward deliver - like the titular track.
Other songs still have an eerie vibe that send chills down my spine. Clap Hands is notorious for doing this to me every time I put the album on. No matter where the music goes, the quality follows. Be it a percussion driven track with xylophones leading the way (rumored to be played with real bones). Or a full on orchestral track that brings back the wonders of Tom's early works, the quality is always there, never wavering.
Rain Dogs lyrics are penned from pure madness. The lyrics are clever rhyme schemes that begin to make sense and then are completely lost within a few words. We get magical lines like "making feet for children's shoes" or "Time is always money, For the boys at Union Square, Go on and bust your ass till doomsday, don't forget to say your prayers."
I could write an entire essay about each of the 19 tracks on Rain Dogs. They are each entirely unique, but all of them are tied together with Tom's unmistakable voice. This album, like so many of Tom's other records, needs to be heard to truly contemplate the madness held within.
All that said, We sail tonight for Singapore
Take your blankets from the floor
Wash your mouth out by the door
The whole town's made of iron ore
Every witness turns to steam
Fill your pockets up with earth
Get yourself a dollar's worth
Away boys, away boys, heave away
Written October 4th 2023
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