Fifth Street, L.A., a place inhabited by the poor, the homeless and those considered disreputable by the society, is affectionately referred to as the Nickel. Fifth Street. As of the 2000 consensus, 42% of its population lives in extreme poverty, defined as less than 2$ per day.
"This is a little old nursery rhyme, about a place down in central Los Angeles called the Nickel."
I chose to start this memoir with this song, because this is a song that sets the motif for nearly every Tom Waits song out there.
"What becomes of little boys who run away from home?", Tom asks.
"The world keeps getting bigger as you get out on your own.", he immediately opines, creating an instant impression that he speaks from experience. A world that gets bigger as it's filled with a daily struggle to scrape by, further complicated by powerful emotions that lead to relationships and friendships that, albeit meaningful, eventually end, not infrequently due to external circumstances.
Although it's occasionally very difficult to recognize Waits' original experiences as they are mixed and stirred with his imagination and his uncanny ability to step in other people's shoes and make insightful - nay, incisive commentary about their circumstance, this is not the case here. Living in LA for the greater part of the 70s, an era in which he could definitely be considered as a misfit, on first sight at least, it would be only natural for him to identify with the residents of the Nickel.
And when he was asked by Ralph Waite to write music for his film "On the Nickel", he effortlessly obliged.
In my opinion, the strings featured in the intro of the album version convey a lot less feeling than his nursery-like live piano intro, which makes the first words Tom utters almost a godsend. Unfortunately, probably in an effort to conserve time, Tom very frequently omits a verse which I find unbelievably powerful:
So you better bring a bucket,
There is a hole in the pail.
If you don't get my letter,
Then you'll know that I'm in jail.
And yet despite this I still find one of those "limp" versions, Tom performing for the BBC in 1979, my favourite. It's one of those occasions when you can feel that a singer is meaning every word sung, that he is mentally recreating every image he conveys to the crowd. This is in keeping with the general pattern that Waits is always performing passionately when he doesn't rush the show but rather take time reminiscing and commenting every song beforehand (seeing as the song actually starts a minute into the clip.)
So, have another, educated, listen to the best version of this song and thank God you're not on the Nickel. And if you are, literally or figuratively, sleep tight; there is someone who will sing a lullaby, just for you.
