I was introduced to this song (but not to Tom Waits who I already knew) by the Ramones. As a 38 year old guy who's been listening to the Ramones since the mid 80s this song sometimes brings me to tears, especially sung with Joey's melodic crooning voice.
It is the tale of a man growing up and wishing he could stay young forever but having to deal with the realities of the world around him. Opening up the medicine chest could be either the medicine that comes with old age (although that's an easy explanation), or more poetically, dealing with suicidal thoughts.
Now that I have heard the Tom Waits version (after the excellent Ramones cover!) and listened to the album I see a lot of songs deal with death, so the medicine chest could well be the easy way out!
I was introduced to this song (but not to Tom Waits who I already knew) by the Ramones. As a 38 year old guy who's been listening to the Ramones since the mid 80s this song sometimes brings me to tears, especially sung with Joey's melodic crooning voice.
It is the tale of a man growing up and wishing he could stay young forever but having to deal with the realities of the world around him. Opening up the medicine chest could be either the medicine that comes with old age (although that's an easy explanation), or more poetically, dealing with suicidal thoughts.
Now that I have heard the Tom Waits version (after the excellent Ramones cover!) and listened to the album I see a lot of songs deal with death, so the medicine chest could well be the easy way out!