Comments on: Tom Waits: God’s Away On Business

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:18:11 +0000

John, you’ve outdone yourself. I’m up for it. If only I had any investments left! I’ve retreated to CD-ville.

By: John Whitney

John Whitney — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:49:43 +0000

I’m thinking it could sort of be a re-visitation of all the famous musicals. It would open with Maria Bartiromo from CNBC singing “The Sound of Money” leading into a chorus of “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” sung by the Federal Reserve Board Governors. Maybe Bernie Madoff with a beard and prayer shawl singing “Fiddler of the Books” and “Yes, I am a Rich Man”. Perhaps a tune like “I’m Gonna Wash that TARP Right out of my Hair” sung by Alan Greenspan. Henry Paulson could do a humorous tune as “Officer CorruptKe”. And then for a rousing finish, the whole cast singing “Broke-Lahoma”.

This could work! How about we pool what’s left of our investments and finance this thing?

By: Larry

Larry — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:41:56 +0000

I’d love to see “Enron: The Musical” – although it might be eclipsed by “Financial Meltdown 2008: The Tragedy!”

By: John Whitney

John Whitney — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:42:55 +0000

As I was thinking the other night, that tune is originally from Waits’ album “Blood Money” for use in a play (which sounds like it is as every bit as bizarre as the lyrics imply). Maybe someday we’ll see “Enron: The Musical”

From Amazon:

Blood Money’s 13 songs were cowritten by Tom Waits and longtime collaborator and wife Kathleen Brennan for a Robert Wilson production of Georg Büchner’s unfinished, protomodernist 1837 play, Woyzeck, about a Kafkaesque German soldier who goes crazy after doing medical experiments for money and kills his girlfriend after witnessing a perceived infidelity. The album’s worldview is, necessarily, bleak. The lyrics are hilariously misanthropic, occasionally hallucinatory, and ring with the truth of Tin Pan Alley clichés turned inside out.