Make It Rain

By the sounds of it, he did something very wrong. The reference to Cain implies that he killed his best friend, who was apparently screwing around with his ex... or something. Maybe he killed her too. All the references to making it rain, needing the whip of thunder, etc seems to me as though he's looking for punishment, and it hasn't arrived yet. It's the same old world, but nothing looks the same... perhaps because of what he did, or because there's no God/Heaven/Hell to punish him for it. Songs are all interpretation, though, so...

the "Able/Cain" line gets all the plaudits (and it is awesome), but in my opinion "She took all my money / And my best friend / You know the story / Here it comes again" One of the best openings to any song ever :)

Check out the references to book of Job (in the Bible)... "Born to trouble" Job 5:7 "Crushed in the gate" Job 5:4 "Make it Rain" Job 38:34 (NLT) The whole book of Job is a meditation on suffering... the very wealthy Job loses everything (except his wife and a few friends and servants) and is covered in boils. All because Satan convinces God to put Job to the test. But, unlike in the song, there's a happy ending.

Aye! FUCKING aye!!

I see it as he wants the Flood to come again and drown the earth, put out the fire in his heart

what do you think he means by "I'm not Abel, I'm just Cain"? I mean I know Cain killed his brother Abel, but I don't get what it means in this song... Does it mean he did something wrong as well ("They sharpen their knives on my mistakes")?

Hey! Thanks a lot for your answer! I hadn't thought of that yet, it's a really good clue. as it's my fave song from tom waits it feels really good understanding it ;)

I always thought that he meant (in the title), 'let luck or good fortune rain down on him again'. Get him out of this rut and let him see good times again. It's an interesting school of thought that he might of killed his best friend over the woman, but it's debatable. She oblivously dumped him, took all his money and his best friend (see Freddie King's "Have you ever Loved a Woman?", frequently covered by Eric Clapton), the latter leading me to believe she left him for the best friend. And at this point he has no pride or shame and will do anything to get her back or get back at her or just get over her. At night he's laying there alone, knowing she's out there with someone else, he feels evil and 'needs a whip of thunder' and cites how he is not 'able' to do anything about it and now feels like 'Cain' (feeling malevolent). He then seems to discuss how he was so close to heaven (with her), but got crushed at the closing gate and now all the mistakes he made (in the relationship maybe) are thrown in his faces like knifes by her or his critics. And it's gotten so low or disparaging that 'you can't give it a name.' But near the end it seems that he might even take her back if he could, because no other pain could ever hurt him this bad. It seems his luck always turns out like this because he is 'born of trouble'. Even though the world is exactly as it was yesterday, it doesn't look anything like it did to him anymore; without her at his side (hence his gloom). And he pleads again that he feels so alone here that he needs the heavens to rain down on him and help him overcome this, in anyway possible. But who knows, that's just me...lol

"I'm not able, I'm just Cain" is pretty much the best line ever. God DAMN.

I felt like the rain metaphor was more about rebirth and change than something negative. The rain nurtures life and makes things grow. It washes things clean. So, basically his wife/girlfriend left him and took everything, including his friends. He's got nothing and just needs to start fresh. He's praying for rain to wash all the sadness and pain away. I like how simple it is. His voice in this song is crazy! At first I picture an old black man, not a little white guy like Tom singing it!