In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Why be sweet, why be careful, why be kind?
A man has only one thing on his mind
Why ask politely, why go lightly, why say
Please?
They only want to get you on your knees
There are a few things I never could believe
A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven when
You're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway
Laissez-faire mi amour, c'est la vie
Shall I return to shore or swim back out to
Sea?
The world don't care what a soldier does in
Town
It's all hanging in the windows by the
Pound
There are few things I never could believe
A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven when
You're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway
I only want to hear your purr and to hear
You moan
There is another man who brings the money
Home
I don't want dishes in the sink
Please don't tell me what you feel or what
You think
There are few things I never could believe
A man has only one thing on his mind
Why ask politely, why go lightly, why say
Please?
They only want to get you on your knees
There are a few things I never could believe
A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven when
You're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway
Laissez-faire mi amour, c'est la vie
Shall I return to shore or swim back out to
Sea?
The world don't care what a soldier does in
Town
It's all hanging in the windows by the
Pound
There are few things I never could believe
A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven when
You're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway
I only want to hear your purr and to hear
You moan
There is another man who brings the money
Home
I don't want dishes in the sink
Please don't tell me what you feel or what
You think
There are few things I never could believe
Lyrics submitted by daffy, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Everything Goes to Hell Lyrics as written by Thomas Alan Waits Kathleen Brennan
Lyrics © JALMA MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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As ST said, the song does starts off with the duplicity of men lying to get a person ito bed, but then he says "What the hell, the woman's lying when she weeps about it". and as Thither states it's about the duplicity of everyone on the planet.
And what a marvellous cry of despondency: "Everything goes to hell, anyway!"
With the song's main subject beign about not caring, I'm thinking the chorus are all examples in corcomparisons to it. Example 1-- If a woman is upset beacuse she was used, it shouldn't be anger directed toward the guy, but toward herself for falling for it. Which relates to the sleeping snake. Don't act surprised when it bites you, you knew what it was, no matter how harmless it may seem. [Males are predators.] A woman shouldn't "weep" about it, it's bull. She wanted it. Example 2-- If a thief makes a promise, how likely is it that he or she will keep it? They must have weak moral stamina if they steal, their word is worth nothing. Example 3-- People with problems might turn to drinking. Drunks feel extreme emotion. Mix the two and you'd find someone in a very desperate situation. Once they sober up, they might not mean the prayers anymore.
None of it matters; Religious people are selfish not moral, they're only good to go to heaven. But they're not going there, so might as well be yourself n' live it up. 'Cause everything goes to hell anyway.
To me this song seems to be about how men (perhaps Tom himself), will tell women lies to get them to sleep with them. And this is Tom being honest with a woman.
this is one of his best songs
I think it's more about everyone on Earth being basically self-centered hypocrites at the root of it all (not just specifically in relationships).
The album this is from, "Blood Money", is the music and lyrics from an adaptaion of the play 'Woyjeck". The song is sung by the man who Woyjeck's wife, Marie< is having an affair with. The man is saying that Marie means nothing to him, and that he is there for the sex, not a relationship. The idea that the voice in the song is a man who is having an affair with a married woman is stated in the third stanza.