Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus make me feel good inside

It's been a VERY long time since I've been on here, but this song made me explode.

K, yesterday I hung out with my cousin, and we swapped a LOT of music and movies that we both need to watch. One artist she told me about is named Tom Waits, and I didn't think I knew anything about him, but he's Dr. Heller in Mystery Men. Odd. (pretty odd, actually)

Anyway, Liza sang "Chocolate Jesus" to me, and it's beautiful. But right now I'm looking at two songs. One is A Christmas Card, and the other is Hoist That Rag.

Actually, before I go any further, I need to describe his voice. "Waits' voice sounds like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car." He is a blues singer in every sense of the word.

hey charlie i'm pregnant
and living on the 9th street
right above a dirty bookstore
off euclid avenue
and i stopped takin dope
and i quit drinkin whiskey
and my old man plays the trombone
and works out at the track

Charlie knew this callgirl well, and years later she wrote him a letter trying to tell him about how she improved her life.

hey charlie i almost went crazy
after mario got busted
so i went back to omaha to
live with my folks
but everyone i used to know
was either dead or in prison
so i came back to minneapolis
this time i think i'm gonna stay.

This shouldn't matter very much, but it makes me smile how omaha always seems to work its way into things. But this is about halfway through the song, showing how hard things have been for her.

hey charlie i think i'm happy
for the first time since my accident
and i wish i had all the money
that we used to spend on dope
i'd buy me a used car lot
and i wouldn't sell any of em
i'd just drive a different car
every day, dependin on how i feel

She's not really happy, she's just telling him this. Her life is a disappointment, but she's trying.

hey charlie for chrissakes
do you want to know the
truth of it?
i don't have a husband
he don't play the trombone
and i need to borrow money
to pay this lawyer
and charlie, hey
i'll be eligible for parole
come valentines day

And it all comes out. She wanted to impress charlie because she wants a friend. She misses having anyone care about her, so she lied to him to try to be his friend again. I love her more than ever right here.

Hoist That Rag

Just listen. I doubt I understand it all right now, but the song seems to be about being tired of life. Sometimes God uses you as his drummer boy to beat his weary drum for the day. As long as you raise a flag, you can pretend to have meaning, and everything will be all right.

This song is beautiful. Listen and feel it with me.

Well we stick our fingers in
The ground, heave and
Turn the world around