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Track of the Day - 10/15/2007
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Tom Waits - What's He Building? Listen to What's He Building? on Rhapsody I can think of no better way to kick off the return of horror Tracks of the Day than to tackle this creepy little tune by Tom Waits.  After all, 'tis the season and all that.  In fact, since we are closing in so quickly on the Halloween season, we might as well queue up a whole slate of wicked little numbers over the next two and a half weeks to creep out your friends at those Halloween parties you may or may not be holding.  Well, creepier than usual I guess. Okay, so What's He Building? might not be your standard song and dance routine.  In truth, it is more of a Beat Poetry number than it is an actual tune, but it is downright spooky.  The track appeared on Waits' 1999 album Mule Variations and now seems like an almost mandatory tune for any and all future Halloween compilations.  However, they all have to be Waits' version and no silly covers, please.  This is vintage Waits and it is hard to imagine anyone else pulling it off. We have covered Waits here a couple of times before with Black Wings and A Little Rain.  This would be our third track from him and it is interesting to note the diversity in the three numbers so far.  There's the toe-tapping rock tune Black Wings, the emotionally devastating ballad in A Little Rain, and now a sinister rant of Beat Poetry in What's He Building?.  This is all pretty much par for the course when it comes to Waits.  The pure diversity of his catalog of work is what makes him so fantastic and is also what keeps the listener on their toes - never quite sure what they will hear next. He has a router and a table saw And you won't believe what Mr. Stiches saw There's poison underneath the sink of course There's also enough formaldehyde to choke a horse What's he building in there? What the hell is he building in there? The beauty of What's He Building? isn't necessarily the mystery of what this shady character who whistles creepy tunes might be up to.  Okay, so maybe a little, but those that want answers won't find it here.  The true genius is the sinister tone and downright obsessive nature of our narrator.  The spin of the tune is actually commentary on our society's creepy paranoia and suspicious attitude towards our neighbors - our voyeuristic nature with less-than-genuine intents.  Basically, who is the bad guy here? Maybe my neighbors are looking my way and seeing this guy huddled over the computer downstairs at all hours of the day and start to wonder just what I am up to.  Just what sort of ideas might be going through their heads?  Well, all except for that one guy two doors down who always appears "busy" and looks like he might be up to no good.  He's a shady type.  I better keep my eye on him.
Filed under: Music, Track of the Day	October 15, 2007, 5:52 pm | Permalink | 0 Comments
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