I agree that this is probably one of my favorite Tom Waits songs. However, I also think it's message is a little bit more twisted than the warm, fuzzy one I thought it had at first.
I think it accurately describes the feeling a person has when he or she feels down and that "the moon is cracked and the sky is broken". Yet, what does it mean to "Come on up to the house"?
In the last stanza he talks about "the forces that are inside you". Now, I could be reading too much of my own personal situation into this, but this speaks to me of someone struggling with some sort of ingrained emotional or psychological problem.
Later on in the stanza, he says "Well you know you should surrender but you can't let go. You gotta come on up to the house." This seems like a fairly hopeless message: You keep wanting to struggle for survival, but 'There's nothing in this world that you can do'; just let go of the strife and 'Come on up to the house'.
As much as I would like this to be an uplifting song, I feel like it is advocating the ultimate "surrender". He stresses that "The world is not my home. I'm just a passing through." While this might be a reference to some sort of detached, Eastern approach to life, the rest of the song doesn't really reference Taoist or Buddhist thought. Instead, I think it is suggesting that sometimes a struggle is just too hard, but not to worry because life is only transitory and somewhere there's a house where everyone is welcome.
I think that you are probably the closest yet, but I don't think that even with this message to it the song isn't inherently dark or twisted.
I think that you are probably the closest yet, but I don't think that even with this message to it the song isn't inherently dark or twisted.
I agree with the quote "The world is not my home. I'm just a passing through." having to do with the transient nature of life but and the general jist of the song being about an overwhelming struggle but I think that it's about convincing someone to let go of the reins and while this is a sort of surrender I think that it's a positive thing.
I agree with the quote "The world is not my home. I'm just a passing through." having to do with the transient nature of life but and the general jist of the song being about an overwhelming struggle but I think that it's about convincing someone to let go of the reins and while this is a sort of surrender I think that it's a positive thing.
I also think "the house" is a multi-faceted metaphor here. In some stanzas it seems to be a resting place and in some parts I think it's just something bigger than yourself that you can take solace in...much like a physical house.
I agree that this is probably one of my favorite Tom Waits songs. However, I also think it's message is a little bit more twisted than the warm, fuzzy one I thought it had at first.
I think it accurately describes the feeling a person has when he or she feels down and that "the moon is cracked and the sky is broken". Yet, what does it mean to "Come on up to the house"?
In the last stanza he talks about "the forces that are inside you". Now, I could be reading too much of my own personal situation into this, but this speaks to me of someone struggling with some sort of ingrained emotional or psychological problem.
Later on in the stanza, he says "Well you know you should surrender but you can't let go. You gotta come on up to the house." This seems like a fairly hopeless message: You keep wanting to struggle for survival, but 'There's nothing in this world that you can do'; just let go of the strife and 'Come on up to the house'.
As much as I would like this to be an uplifting song, I feel like it is advocating the ultimate "surrender". He stresses that "The world is not my home. I'm just a passing through." While this might be a reference to some sort of detached, Eastern approach to life, the rest of the song doesn't really reference Taoist or Buddhist thought. Instead, I think it is suggesting that sometimes a struggle is just too hard, but not to worry because life is only transitory and somewhere there's a house where everyone is welcome.
I think that you are probably the closest yet, but I don't think that even with this message to it the song isn't inherently dark or twisted.
I think that you are probably the closest yet, but I don't think that even with this message to it the song isn't inherently dark or twisted.
I agree with the quote "The world is not my home. I'm just a passing through." having to do with the transient nature of life but and the general jist of the song being about an overwhelming struggle but I think that it's about convincing someone to let go of the reins and while this is a sort of surrender I think that it's a positive thing.
I agree with the quote "The world is not my home. I'm just a passing through." having to do with the transient nature of life but and the general jist of the song being about an overwhelming struggle but I think that it's about convincing someone to let go of the reins and while this is a sort of surrender I think that it's a positive thing.
I also think "the house" is a multi-faceted metaphor here. In some stanzas it seems to be a resting place and in some parts I think it's just something bigger than yourself that you can take solace in...much like a physical house.