Entry 601 - Tom Waits - Bone Machine

 

Style: Experimental, percussion, blues, jazz, rock, lounge, spoken word, 

Primary Emotions/Themes: Fatalism, humanism, meaning of human existence

Thoughts: I'm embarrassed to say that I had not listened to Bone Machine until a few years ago. I knew of it's existence but the cover always threw me off for whatever reason. After listening to it the first time I knew that I had made a huge mistake by letting it slide for so long. This album is among Waits best.

For years and years I've regarded Rain Dogs as Waits' best album. I still do, but Bone Machine has a similar quality to it, but with a darker tone. Starting off right away with "The Earth Died Screaming" the album lets the listener know that the album is committed to the side of life that is less explored. The side where you try to pick yourself up and get kicked down again. The side where you think you've got something figured out and get slapped in the face for being dumb. The side where you can do everything right and still lose.

The music itself isn't too far off from the lyrics. This is dirty music, music that is written by someone who is down on their luck and isn't shy about it. The music is mired in the sound of the old blues, the deep south blues. It's simple, it's desperate, and it's full of soul. 

Bone Machine makes the simple sound complex. Objectively, there isn't much going on here... but the album tricks you into thinking that it's simple. Below the surface a vast array of treasure is waiting to be found. Be it layer upon layer of drums and percussion, or be it the deep resonance of Tom's voice. There is something to dive into on each track.

The lyrics themselves offer a vast ocean of subjects to dive into. They often touch on sorrow, hopelessness, and the inability to change. I normally don't spend too much time focusing on lyrics, but Tom demands attention with lines like: 

"The quill from a buzzard

The blood writes the word

I want to know am i the sky or a bird?
'Cause hell is boiling over

And heaven is full

We're chained to the world"

That wasn't written by someone who is having a good day. That was written by someone who has seen hell and lived to tell the tale. The whole album is like that. Everything screams for help, but no one answers. We're on our own, and god has forsaken us....

Written November 13th 2023