"Hoist That Rag" still "Hoist That Rag"
I’ve been working on a novel for the past couple years inspired by the Tom Waits song, “Hoist That Rag.” This song is as close to religion as I get.
Strangely, or perhaps fittingly, I don’t know the literal meaning of the song. There’s a guy named Piggy, something about rat addresses, and of course, as with most religions, there are crying babies involved. What this means for my novel-in-progress is that everything is simply an interpretation. Again, very fitting with religion in general.
This past week I had the opportunity to experience this song live (Tulsa OK, USA, at the Brady Theater, 6.25.08). I had been looking forward to this show for months, but it wasn’t until I was standing in line at the venue that I began to have reservations about hearing “Hoist That Rag” live.
Until the performance my experience of the song had been entirely self-contained. But, how would my view change when surrounded by hundreds of individuals each with their own connections to the song? Would my interpretations be marred by theirs? Would the voices around me, some singing along, some rudely talking about unrelated domestic issues, become part of a revised vision of the song, and by extension, my novel-in-progress?
Thankfully, not completely. The world shut down during the song. Yes, I recorded the performance (see YouTube video below), but I intentionally kept from looking at the LCD monitor the entire time. I wanted the performance to enhance my vision of the song, not distort it.
I wonder then, how, if at all, my manuscript will change because of this new association. Understand that when dealing with an 80,000 word novel inspired by a 139 word song there is going to be a huge portion of “all me” there, but still, if the core impetus changes then will the entire novel change as well? Considering that I have not yet finished the novel, I guess I will never know. But it makes me wonder if perhaps I should have never gone to the show.
Wait…no it doesn’t. The show was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Fuck the novel if it means loosing the show.
[media url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqqxDbYx9sM”]
Have you finished your writing? I’m writing a novel right now that draws some inspiration from Waits and will include some lyrics (permission pending). I wish you luck.
Very cool. I had to shelve the book for the time being (to concentrate on other books that needed to be written), but it’s still there, waiting. I hope to get back to it this year.
Best of luck with your book. And best of luck with getting permission for the lyrics.