I just listened to "Mule Variations" for the first time the other day. I thought "Take It With Me" was the most beautiful closer to an album I'd heard in a while. Then I realised it wasn't the last song and I was a little disappointed because I didn't think the album could surpass that.. but this song is just brilliant. The music feels like the end of something - and Waits' lyrics aren't patronising, they're delivered from experience, from a man who's put himself on the cross before... in that sense, it is a very cathartic song - the album, whilst varied, is emotionally charged and this is a touching denouement.
I just listened to "Mule Variations" for the first time the other day. I thought "Take It With Me" was the most beautiful closer to an album I'd heard in a while. Then I realised it wasn't the last song and I was a little disappointed because I didn't think the album could surpass that.. but this song is just brilliant. The music feels like the end of something - and Waits' lyrics aren't patronising, they're delivered from experience, from a man who's put himself on the cross before... in that sense, it is a very cathartic song - the album, whilst varied, is emotionally charged and this is a touching denouement.