| Tom Waits – Time Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Tom Waits' songs are gorgeously written, and "Time" is exceptional. It is my favorite song from a lyrical perspective, and offers as much material for literary analysis as any poetry around. Give it a chance to take root in your heart; it becomes an experience, then, with every listen. Bravo, Tom Waits and your beautiful, gravely voice, for writing this exquisite song. "Time" is written from the perspective of a female Death Angel-type character whose task is to take people at their designated time ("¦Time"¦Time). The songs" verses illustrate various peoples" "times" and how most people waste their time being alive and suddenly crave life once their time comes to an end. I can"t decide whether the Death character is determining to whom a second chance is given, but it's possible. Death is burned out with her job (who isn't?) because she is constantly reminded that one must experience extreme proximity to death in order to appreciate life, which is one of life's greatest lessons. Though death is considered a dark subject, please view the song from a positive light in order to appreciate it more completely. Try to resist your human instinct to shy away from the subject and reality of death. It's trying to teach you something here. "Well the smart money's on Harlow and the moon is in the street And the shadow boys are breaking all the laws And you're east of East Saint Louis and the wind is making speeches And the rain sounds like a round of applause" This part serves to link to the last verse of the song, so read on for my interpretation of that. "Shadow Boys" are those who are "marked", which seems tiresome to Death, to the point that she's placing bets on who will be next on her "list". I think the "rain" symbolizes all of the things that are overwhelming in a human life, and are so close and loud that it sounds like applause, which is a diversion; yes, applause, in this song, is not a good thing"”it's a distraction. Same with the wind--the "speeches" aren't noticed by anyone because they blow away so quickly, metaphorically. "And Napoleon is weeping in a carnival saloon His invisible fiancee's in the mirror And the band is going home, it's raining hammers, it's raining nails And it's true there's nothing left for him down here" Of course, to state the obvious, this person isn"t literally Napoleon, and as with all well-written poetry and lyrics, Waits leaves space for personal imagery and interpretation in terms of the specifics of this person; this verse is written so well that I, at least, have a very specific image of who this person is in their setting in my head when I hear this song. Anyway, this person is so depressed with his situation (because who isn't a little depressed at their circumstances?), as life seems to be raining nothing but pain on him. "And they all pretend they're orphans and their memory's like a train You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away And the things you can't remember tell the things you can't forget That history puts a saint in every dream" Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. This verse is from Death"s perspective as a weary reaper who notices the same trend from all those she comes to: that everyone has an excuse as to why it shouldn"t be their time to go, or why it's too soon, because of their notion of what bad things have happened to them, even though they've wasted the time they had already. "Their memory"s like a train" that conveniently forgets the bad things they"ve done as well, because "history puts a saint in every dream". We all become martyrs to spare our own egos at one point or another. "Well she said she'd stick around until the bandages came off But these mama's boys just don't know when to quit And Mathilda asks the sailors "Are those dreams or are those prayers?" So close your eyes, son, and this won't hurt a bit" I think the person referenced in this verse, Mathilda, is an escort/prostitute/mistress-type. As you listen from this perspective, please try to view this character in as powerful instead of with judgment of moral character, as she is the one in control here, and is called upon by men as a confidant in addition to the other, more obvious/stereotypical reasons. Again, the story is being told by Death. The sailors confide to Mathilda their deeds, experiences, and cravings in a way that is unique to those kinds of arrangements. (Consider the character of Cathy in Steinbeck's "East of Eden", for example; see also: Tori Amos' "Virginia".) Death hears all, and there are no secrets kept from her, "So close your eyes, son, and this won"t hurt a bit." "Well things are pretty lousy for a calendar girl The boys just dive right off the cars and splash into the street And when they're on a roll she pulls a razor from her boot And a thousand pigeons fall around her feet" This verse illustrates the repetitive nature of being a reaper. The "calendar girl" line moves us from the Mathilda verse as Death continues on her path; I do not believe that it refers to a female model/traditional "calendar girl" in a retro sense. The entire song shows that Death finds her job tiresome (lousy), particularly because people do irresponsible things ("dive right off the cars and splash into the street"). I think the "thousand pigeons" line is to highlight the repetitiveness"”she pulls a razor from her boot (takes the lives) and a thousand pigeons (possibly humans who are damaged, whether by their own choices/hand or by others, since pigeons are considered a street parasite to some) fall (die) around her feet"”-just another day at the office. CHORUS: "Oh it's time time time, and it's time time time And it's time time time that you love And it's time time time" The chorus of this song is repetitive for a very specific reason: Death is telling us, as the audience, that it's time that we love in our lives, before it's too late. The repetition serves to emphasize the song"s lesson so that the song"s message is truly heard. it's no accident that the chorus repeats so much while the verses themselves are quite complex. "So put a candle in the window and a kiss upon his lips As the dish outside the window fills with rain Just like a stranger with the weeds in your heart And pay the fiddler off 'til I come back again" The last part is directed to the audience. Appreciate what you have. Kiss the one you love. Don't be self-absorbed in your own life's damaging events; everyone is damaged--all of the strangers with the weeds in their hearts. Lock the bad parts of your life outside your sacred space/home (rain outside the window). Appreciate living in order to "pay the fiddler off" "til Death comes back for you, because she will, and know that she"s watching. A truly lovely and profound song. |
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