Tom Waits Week: Things Get Weird (1983-1993)

The title track introduces us to Frank, though he’s not named. A veteran (the war is unnamed, though he’s referred to as a “doughboy”, which evokes World War I) returns to his hometown, significantly worse for wear. (“He came home from the war / with a party in his head / and an idea for a fireworks display”) His meager possessions go up for sale in “Soldier’s Things”, and then “Down Down Down” chronicles a descent into Hell. It’s not all dark, though. Relatively speaking, of course. On this album, “Gin Soaked Boy” seems positively giddy, and that’s the story of a prisoner who learns that his wife is cheating on him. And there’s the funnier-than-it-should-be “Frank’s Wild Years”. And yes, there’s eventually an album by that name, but this Frank doesn’t appear to be the Frank from that album or the one from the other tracks on this album. Got that? This is just a story of a guy who tries to put his past behind him and chase the suburban dream. When it gets to be too much, he burns down the house and skips town. It’s one of Tom’s most effective spoken word pieces.