I tend to agree with stogie and taal for the most part on this. Quick FIY though... he's obviously comparing Iraq to Vietnam with the line "gods go begging," because that is the name of a book written by Alfredo Vea in either 2000 or 2001 about the war in Vietnam. It's an amazing book.

From tomwaitslibrary.com:

- Tom Waits (2004): "Well, "Sins Of My Father" is political. "Hoist That Rag" is. There's a bunch of soldier songs. (Source: "Magnet Interview With Tom Waits", by Jonathan Valania. Magnet magazine (UK). October 5, 2004)

Piggy Knowles and Sing Sing Tommy Shay
- "It seems that Tom Waits was reading Herbert Asbury's The Gangs of New York while writing Real Gone. Piggy Noles (misspelled "Knowles" in the Real Gone lyrics) and Bum Mahoney both appear on page 73 as being part of the river pirate gangs of Manhattan's lower east side in mid 19th century New York. They reappear together with Tommy Shay as part of the "Hook gang" on page 76 and 77: "Another member of the Hookers was Piggy Noles, who stole a rowboat, repainted it and then sold it to its original owner". (Source: Submitted by Mikael Borg as sent to Tom Waits Yahoo Groups discussionlist. November 2, 2004)
- Hook Gang: "The Hook Gang was a New York street gang and later river pirates during the late nineteenth century. The Hook Gang was formed during the mid-1860s following the American Civil War. Based from New York's Corlears' Hook waterfront of the East River, the Hookers numbered between 50 to 100 members including many of the notorious sneak thieves and other criminals of the period including James Coffee, Terry Le Strange, Suds Merrick, and Tommy Shay. The gang quickly became known for attacking and hijacking shipping almost always outnumbered. An early robbery took place when James Coffee and Tommy Shay forced a local eight-man rowing club at gunpoint to row the boat to the Brooklyn shore. Within 50 yards the men ordered the rowing team to jump out and swim to the beach while the men escaped with the boat later sailing the boat to a canal boat at the Hudson River dockyards. One gang member however, Slipsey Ward, was arrested and imprisoned at Auburn Prison after attempting to hijack a schooner sailing past Pike Street killing three of the six man crew before he was detained by the remaining crew members." (Source: "Encyclopedia of World Crime Vol. II. Robert Jay Nash. Crimebooks Inc., 1990)

The gods go begging: Could be taken from Alfredo Véa's novel "The Gods Go Begging" (NY Dutton, 1999). A gripping novel which starts with the brutal murders of two women in San Francisco, a murder which has its roots in the war in Vietnam. One review called this 'a novel filled with magic realism, searing descriptions and stunning eloquence." "Alfredo Véa, author of "La Maravilla," "The Gods Go Begging," and "The Silver Cloud Café," is a practicing criminal defense attorney. His most recent book, "The Gods Go Begging," was named one of the Best Books of 1999 by the Los Angeles Times and was the winner of the 1999 Bay Area Book Reviewers' Award for Fiction. Véa was born in Arizona and lived the life of a migrant worker before being sent to Vietnam. After his discharge, he worked as anything from a truck driver to carnival mechanic to put himself through law school. He currently lives in San Francisco." (Source: "Novelist Alfredo Véa to Read at UA Nov. 12" By Julieta Gonzalez. Yniversity Of Arizona news: November 05, 2003)

All is fair in love and war: attributed to Francis Edward Smedley (1818-1864), in "Frank Fairleigh" [1850]

This song is about nationalism, I think, and more precisely about the use of patriotism to excuse atrocities. Telling lines include the allusion "all is fair in love and war" and the other war imagery around the second and third verses. Most interesting, however, is the religious references, which seem to relate directly for leaders to refer to themselves as 'tools of God' -- "God used me as a hammer..." and even "the world is flat" seem to smakc of fundamentalist theocracy.

Great explanation stogie! I'll just add this:

"Well we stick our fingers in
The ground, heave and
Turn the world around"
"Smoke is blacking out the sun

To me this seems evocative of the burning oil rigs of the early days of the first Gulf War.

i was about to explain this song but i see tipkin already did. see his comments. the song has very definite meanings and the people and phrases are specific.