This (being the first track on Swordfishtrombones) actually marks the turning point in Tom Waits' music moves from his early style to his later, more Waitsian (is there any other word you can use to describe it?) work.
So maybe this song is autobiographical, documenting the point where his eyes are suddenly opened to a new world that has been there all along but has been invisible until now.
"there's a big dark town/it's a place I've found/there's a world going on/underground"
This (being the first track on Swordfishtrombones) actually marks the turning point in Tom Waits' music moves from his early style to his later, more Waitsian (is there any other word you can use to describe it?) work.
So maybe this song is autobiographical, documenting the point where his eyes are suddenly opened to a new world that has been there all along but has been invisible until now. "there's a big dark town/it's a place I've found/there's a world going on/underground"