Music / Blood Money

Blood Money is the fifteenth studio album by Tom Waits. Released in 2002 through ANTI-, it is based on the play Woyzeck by Georg Büchner. It was released as a companion piece to Alice (2002) and just like that album it contains music written for a play by Robert Wilson. Waits had worked with Wilson before on The Black Rider (1993).

The album is best remembered for the tracks "Misery Is The River of the World" and "God's Away On Business".

Tracklist

1. "Misery Is the River of the World" (4:25)
2. "Everything Goes to Hell" (3:45)
3. "Coney Island Baby" (4:02)
4. "All the World Is Green" (4:36)
5. "God's Away on Business" (2:59)
6. "Another Man's Vine" (2:28)
7. "Knife Chase" (2:26)
8. "Lullaby" (2:09)
9. "Starving in the Belly of a Whale" (3:41)
10. "The Part You Throw Away" (4:22)
11. "Woe" (1:20)
12. "Calliope" (1:59)
13. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (3:57)

Troping in the Belly of a Whale

• Added Alliterative Appeal:
  • "The Part You Throw Away":
    Houdini hands
  • "Everything Goes To Hell":
    A woman when she weeps
  • "Starving In The Belly Of The Whale":
    If you live in hope you're dancing to a terrible tune
  • "Another Man's Vine":
    Around a red rose
    I see a red rose, a red rose
• All Men Are Perverts: "Everything's Goes To Hell":
  A man has only one thing on his mind
• Cosmic Plaything: Woyzeck.
• Crapsack World: "Misery Is the River of the World"
  All the good in the world you can put inside a thimble
  And still have room for you and me
• Cult Soundtrack: To the play of the same name.
• Cymbal-Banging Monkey: The organ grinder's mechanical monkey, which sings "Misery is the River of the World" from Blood Money. Facially, it's a character of Tom Waits, and was voiced by a recording of him.
• Face on the Cover: Waits in close-up.
• For Want Of A Nail: "Misery Is The River Of The World":
  For want of a bird
  The sky was lost
  For want of a nail
  A shoe was lost
  For want of a life
  All life was lost
  For want of a toy
  A child was lost
• Gaia's Vengeance: "Misery Is The River Of The World":
  You can drive out nature with a pitchfork
  But it always comes roaring back again
• Grass is Greener: "Another Man's Vine":
  I see a red rose blooming, on another man's vine
• Gratuitous French: "Everything Goes To Hell":
  Laissez-faire mi amour, c'est la vie
• Have You Seen My God?: "God's Away on Business".
  Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
  Killers, thieves, and lawyers
• Humans Are Bastards: "Misery Is the River of the World".
  If there's one thing you can say about mankind
  There's nothing kind about man
  All the good in the world you can put inside a thimble
  And still have room for you and me
• Instrumental: "Knife Chase" and "Calliope".
• Ironic Nursery Tune: "Lullaby" makes use of a children's bedtime prayer.
  If I die before you wake
  Don't you cry, don't you ache
  Nothing's ever yours to keep
  Close your eyes, go to sleep
• Limited Lyrics Song: "Woe".
  The ribbon round your neck
  Against your skin that's pale as bone
  It is my favorite thing you've worn
  The band is playing our song
  And we won't go home, 'til morn
• Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: "Lullaby".
  If I die before you wake
  Don't you cry, don't you ache
  Nothing's ever yours to keep
  Close your eyes, go to sleep
• One-Word Title: "Lullaby", "Woe", and "Calliope".
• The Power of Love: "Coney Island Baby".
  When I'm with her, I'm the richest
  Man in the town
• Pun: "Misery is The River Of The World":
  If there's one thing you can say about mankind
  There's nothing kind about man
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: "Everything Goes To Hell":
  There are few things
  I never could believe
  [...] A snake when he is sleeping
• Schmuck Bait: "God's Away On Business":
  There's always free cheddar in a mousetrap
• Shout-Out: "The Part You Throw Away" namedrops Harry Houdini.
  Houdini hands
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: "Starving In The Belly Of The Whale"
  If you live in hope you're dancing to a terrible tune
• Surprisingly Gentle Song: Amidst the bleakness of the other tracks, "All the World is Green" is a gentle love ballad.
• Villain Song: "Everything Goes to Hell" and "God's Away on Business".
• War Is Hell: "A Good Man Is Hard To Find".
  A long dead soldier looks out
  From the frame
  No one remembers his war; no one
  Remembers his name

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