Six years after the bizarre theatricalities of The Black Rider, Tom Waits returns to us with a mucky coat in a mucky field on the front cover of Mule Variations to give us a selection of equally mucky songs. With his departure from albums also came a parting from his Island label, and into the ANTI productions that have produced every release after this one. And with all those changes comes a new intent, and a new tone.
Whereas all of Tom’s previous Island Records had a theatrical Brechtian component – which would also be very present on the next two records – this is more a thematic album than conceptual. With that comes a refinement of the tonal consistency of Bone Machine, only here it comes to form what could probably be the most accessible album of Waits’ post Asylum discography (even though, despite being the same track length as Bone Machine, this was his longest non-Nighthawks album at this point). Here there is an extra focus on the chugging guitars of country, blues and folk (thus explaining why this album won the Contemporary Folk Grammy as opposed to Bone Machine’s catch-all Alternative Music win) but still all infused with the Waitsian trademarks that gives this a distinct feel, resulting in an album that would please both old fans and newcomers. I’m sure Waits wasn’t thinking about that, though; he was just being Waits.
This album begins with “Big in Japan,” and like in Bone Machine another contribution from the various members of Primus (after Tom contributed to some of their best-selling albums). Unlike last time though, this track is slightly more suited to their sensibilities, if nothing else because it has a noticeable sense of humour, the title referring to bizarre trend of One-Hit Wonders and cult novelty hits in America having big success in Japan. The bouncy guitars and sax are infectious, but sonically the most interesting element is Tom’s voice, his cupping of the microphone creating some kind of feedback percussion that can heard quietly throughout the track (and obviously at the beginning and end). The second track, “Lowside Of The Road,” counteracts the openers rockiness with some folksiness, with a sludging guitar and trumpets that give the sense of being bogged down in Bayeux water; True Detective’s first series could have used it. It’s also full of dark and bizarre imagery, with black elevators, red moons and a naked Jezebel coming at you with an axe. By contrast the album’s third song and only single “Hold On”, is positively optimistic, even if its contents are of a broken hearted man (or possibly a self-destructive relationship) and someone holding on to either their sanities or their memories. The folk rock here, with its muted guitars and rustling percussion, is beautiful and delicate, a bizarre trait to say for someone whose voice has the reputation of a donkey left in a mineshaft.
“Get Behind the Mule” is the song where we likely get our title inspiration from, and is a great bit of blues rock with guitar fills that sound at once precise and improvised. A vivid description of a dark rural lifestyle (also giving his own best explanation of his voice ever with “stirring his brandy with a nail”) my only real issue being whether a quiet-ish track should have lasted for seven minutes, and would probably be my main criticism of any songs from Mule Variations. Not so (personally) with the next song, a return to the piano ballad in “House Where Nobody Lives,” that distinguishes itself by accompanied with some bluesy high guitar tones that help compliment and heighten the wrenching character of Tom’s voice. “Cold Water” is tale of a homelessness from someone’s for who dirt is their rug and they are sleeping in graveyards, all hung together with a great, deliberately paced piece blues rock riff, placed in such a way after the piano ballad to give you the culture shock of a freezing bath. Contrasting again to the faint “Pony,” a guitar ballad emphasised with high organ notes and blues harp (and some good ol’ harp) that all comes together to add more atmosphere to the tales of the rundown.
After this comes what I would probably the most “experimental” section of the album, as the centre tracks play more in that theatrical, atonal, percussive realm we associate with Tom Waits. It’s not that the rest aren’t or weren’t this, these are just more overt. The first “What’s he Building in There,” a spoken word piece with the radio signals, creepy clacking and horn sounds from the guts of hell all adding to this intense feeling of paranoia (although much of that horror comes from the way the narrator himself words his narrative: “There’s poison underneath the sink/ Of course…”). The next song, “Black Market Baby,” incorporates more elements of tuned percussion, as well as high pitched reeds, bizarre screeching backing vocals from Waits and a fuzzy toned guitar solo that all envelops and enhances the creeping sensation of this creepy, lustful story. Finally there is the surrealist title of “Eyeball Kid,” that sees the first case of Waits incorporating some obvious sampling of voices. This, combined with the hits of metal, gives the illusion of a creature birthed from the darkest caves discovered by miners, and also the combination of both religious reverence and carnival attraction.
We return to a piano ballad with the calming “Picture in a Frame.” Even though the lyrics to this one are a little slight, I do like the incorporation of saxophone tones, and the sincerity in which Tom delivers his simple message of love. The next song, “Chocolate Jesus,” is also the first Tom Waits song that I ever listened to (in a live version that, to be honest, I prefer the rough megaphone filled vocals of). Adding to the humour found in the album’s first track, the seeming slightness here only adds to the entertaining sacrilege, with a central image and lines like “I fall on my knees every Sunday/ At Zerelda Lee’s candy store” to be taken as Waits describing religion as a kind of confectionary. This questioning of the nature of faith also moves on to the next track, “Georgia Lee,” which is probably my favourite off the whole album. It is another piano ballad (with quiet organ and bass backing), but what elevates this one is just the emotion of the lyrics. In the slightest of detail, such as her school life and the seeming reverse emotion of the hills turning from “green black to gold,” and manages to tell a tale of infanticide without ever at any point feeling needlessly manipulative. It’s pure emotion, proof that behind the theatrical affectations and stories of debauchery, Tom Waits does indeed have the most empathetic of hearts.
For the final section of this album, we have the hardest song of the album followed quickly by its quietest. “Filipino Box Spring Hog” is just filthy, with images of (I think) Tom’s wife that are unlike those previously on record (“Kathleen was sittin down/ In little reds recovery room/ In her criminal underwear bra/ I was naked to the waist/ With my fierce black hound) and some other dirty images of stench and flies. But the true griminess comes from the instruments, with the thudding drums, stabs of horn and sexy guitar licks. “Take it With Me” on the other hand has an introduction that feels straight out of a music box. With images of trains and track that could have come from The Black Rider, this can’t help but feel like a weaker track if only for the heaviness and greatness of the two that preceeded it, but in the context of the album it is a beautiful piece of piano work (some of the best off the whole album) that acts as the perfect into the finale. That finale is “Come On Up To The House,” a finale that encompass many of the sounds that preceded it with guitars, harmonicas, horns and thudding percussion all backing this great bouncing piano. Adding to that this theme of refuge, describing so many people that will need a place to stay (including the narrator) that in many ways the album does end up conceptual, as though the narrator is offering sanctuary to all the characters who have been hurt in some way by the events of being drifters or in the more impoverished ends of society.
Mule Variations is a triumph of Waits both maintaining a consistent thematic and character quality – through both this album and his whole discography – whilst wearing a more haggard and world-weary coat. Despite the length of songs only one or two have that element of length truly drag them down. But still, those who like the more theatrical and strange Tom Waits might feel a little missed on. Not to worry though, for three years later they would get a treat; they would be getting two of those albums in one year. And the first one: oh boy…
What did you think of the album, though?
Tom Waits Album Rankings (with changes based on hindsight)
- Rain Dogs
- Bone Machine
- Swordfishtrombones
- Mule Variations
- Franks Wild Year
- Blue Valentine
- Heartattack and Vine
- Small Change
- Closing Time
- The Black Rider
- Nighthawks at the Diner
- The Heart of Saturday Night
- Foreign Affair