Show Talk

So yesterday we went to the theatre again, this time to see an Off-Broadway play called "Red Light Winter". It was no better than OK, explicit sexual content and all, but that's not the reason for this posting. In the course of the first act, one actor, a young sociopath-in-training, is describing an Amsterdam hooker's flat to his roommate, and notes that she had a cassette player that was playing Tom Waits.

Here's a paraphrase of the dialogue:
Roommate: "Bone Machine?"
Sociopath: "No, Small Change".
Rommate: "Great album".

And it is, truly. I didn't love the play (didn't even like it much, actually), but I respect the playwright's musical taste and judgment, even though the two characters are both repulsive, each in his own way, and I'm not sure just how much irony to impute to the opinion.

But during the play, we actually got to hear some of "Tom Traubert's Blues", and a few bars of "Jitterbug Boy". Best moments in the show, by far.

Hey, trick question: how many bars are there in a Tom Waits song?
Answer: every one you've ever been in.