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(1) I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth:
- Judas Iscariot: Judas Iscariot (died April AD 29-33) was, according to the Christian New Testament, one of the twelve original apostles of Jesus, and the one who betrayed him. According to the account given in the gospels, he carried the disciples' money box and betrayed Jesus for a bribe of "thirty pieces of silver" by identifying him with a kiss (the "kiss of Judas") to arresting soldiers of the High Priest Caiphas, who then turned Jesus over to Pontius Pilate's soldiers. Judas has been a figure of great interest to esoteric groups, such as many Gnostic sects, because of the apparent contradiction in the idea of "the betrayal of God". Judas is also the subject of many philosophical writings, discussing various problematic ideological contradictions: If Jesus foresees Judas' betrayal, then it may be argued that Judas has no free will, and cannot avoid betraying Jesus. If Judas cannot control his betrayal of Jesus, then he is not morally responsible for his actions. If Judas is sent to Hell for his betrayal, and his betrayal was a necessary step in the humanity-saving death of Jesus Christ, then Judas is being punished for saving humanity. If Jesus only suffered while dying on the cross, and then ascended into Heaven, while Judas must suffer for eternity in Hell, then Judas has suffered much more for the sins of humanity than Jesus. Does Jesus' plea, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do," (Luke 23:34) not apply to Judas? Most modern Christians, whether laity, clergy, or theologians, still consider Judas a traitor. Indeed the term Judas has entered many languages as a synonym for betrayer.
- John Wilkes Booth: Assassin of US president Abraham Lincoln (Ford's Theatre, Washington D.C. April 14, 1865). After the assassination Booth escaped from Washington, D.C. and was on the run for 12 days. He and David E. Herold, a coconspirator, were sleeping in a tobacco barn on the morning of Wednesday, April 26, 1865, when Union cavalry finally caught up with them. The soldiers surrounded the barn which was located about 60 miles south of Ford's Theatre near Port Royal, Virginia. Herold gave up but Booth refused. The barn was set on fire, and Booth was shot by one Boston Corbett.
(2) Down There By The Train: (Bone Machine outtake)
- Jim Jarmusch (1993): Man, you have so many songs. There are other songs you played for me that aren't on 'Bone Machine', like "Filipino Box Spring Hog". TW: Yeah, and "Tell It to Me", and "Mexican Song", "In the Reeperbahn", one called "Shall We Die Tonight", a suicide pact ballad, and then a couple for John Hammond at the same time, one called "Down There By the Train". JJ: Did he record it? TW: No, nobody did. And we couldn't find a way to do it either that felt good, so we just left it, and it's just sitting there. (Source: "Straight No Chaser" Straight No Chaser magazine (UK), by Jim Jarmusch. Date: October, 1992 (published early 1993)
- Terry Gross (2002): ... Johnny Cash... recorded your song "Down There By The Train". TW: Yeah right that killed me! That was, that was, that was wild. I was like "That's it, I'm all done now. Johnny Cash did a song... all done, thanks very much." That was really flattering you know. Lovely he did it too. TG: Oh yeah. Do you know how he knew the song or why he decided to record it? TW: Well a lot of people sent in tunes when he was doing this record with Rick Rubin. And eh different people that eh... you know, different songwriters sending in tunes and then he just picked them. I didn't know if he was doing it or not. I figured, well I hadn't done it. I don't know why I hadn't done it, I don't remember. And so eh... I didn't really know until the record came out. I said: "Wow that's great!" When someone is doing a tune, especially someone that you have been listening to since you were a kid, it's a bit of a validation... TG: Oh yeah... TW: ... and it's meaningful. TG: Johnny Cash is pretty validating when it comes to that. (laughs) TW: Yeah alright!... TG: So did you meet Johnny Cash? TW: No, I have not met Johnny Cash. I look forward to that day down the road. I would love to meet him. (Source: "Fresh Air interview with Tom Waits", Fresh Air with Terry Gross, produced in Philadelphia by WHYY. Radio show as archived on Fresh Air website. May 21, 2002)
- Tom Waits (2006): "On Orphans there is a mambo about a convict who breaks out of jail with a fishbone, a gospel train song about Charlie Whitman and John Wilkes Boothe, a delta blues about a disturbing neighbor, a spoken word piece about a woman who was struck by lightening, an 18th century Scottish madrigal about murderous sibling rivalry, an American backwoods a cappella about a hanging. Even a song by Jack Kerouac and a spiritual with my own personal petition to the Lord with prayer... There's even a show tune about an old altar boy and a rockabilly song about a young man who's begging to be lied to." (Source: Anti Records Orphans promo pack. August 2006)
- Tom Waits (2006); "I had a song covered by Johnny Cash, that was like a huge uh... thrill for me, you know? He would change some of it and I thought: "Oh, boy! Well I guess he must have thought it needed some changing!" "I should have talked to him before I finished! Probably could have helped me!" (Source: "Tom Waits: Rock Classics, With A Gravelly Rasp", NPR's World Café from WXPN (USA) by David Dye. December 15, 2006)
- Tom Waits (2007): "I had a friend who was playing guitar with him (Johnny Cash) at the time, [guitarist] Smokey Hormel. Smokey said, "Yeah, Johnny's going to be doing other people's tunes. Send us down something." But the version on [Orphans] isn't the original demo I sent. I did my version with Larry Taylor at Prairie Sun or Sputnik Sound, or one of those places." (Source: "A Conversation With Tom Waits", by Bob Mehr. Memphis Commercial Appeal. January 21, 2007)
(3) And Charlie Witman is on the Dillinger's wings:
- Charles Whitman: Charles Joseph Whitman (June 24, 1941 - August 1, 1966) is known for ascending The University of Texas at Austin's 27-story tower on August 1, 1966, and shooting passersby in the city and on the campus below, after having killed his mother and his wife the night before. In all Whitman killed 15 people and wounded 31 others before he was shot dead by Austin police. At autopsy Whitman was found to have suffered from a brain tumor affecting the limbic system. Whitman left a suicide note, a portion of which read: "I don't quite understand what it is that compels me to type this letter. Perhaps it is to leave some vague reason for the actions I have recently performed. I don't really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I can't recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts." The note explained that he had decided to murder both his mother and wife, but made no mention of the coming attacks at the University. He also requested that an autopsy be done after his death, to determine if there were anything to explain his actions and increasing headaches. He willed any money from his estate to be donated to mental health research, saying he hoped it would prevent others from following his route.
- MB (2006): Down There By The Train pursues that theme of redemption. What's the history of that song? TW: How many years ago, I don't know, Johnny Cash did a version of it, when he was doing the first of those American Recordings with Rick Rubin. I don't know who asked me; somebody said, "You got any songs for Johnny Cash?" I just about fell off my chair. I had a song and I hadn't recorded it. So I said, "Hey - it's got all the stuff that Johnny likes - trains and death, John Wilkes Booth, the cross... OK!" MB: It's such a wonderful song, the idea that even the worst sinners will be saved. "Charlie Whitman is holding on to Dillinger's wings, they're both down there by the train..." TW: Yeah, yeah, available to all. Charles Whitman -- he's the one that went up a tower in Texas and shot all those people. He was probably bipolar." (Source: "My Wild Years And The Woman That Saved My Life", Word magazine (UK), November 9, 2006. By Mick Brown)
- John Dillinger: John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 - July 22, 1934) was an American bank robber, considered by some to be a dangerous criminal, while others idealized him as a latter-day Robin Hood. He gained this reputation (and the nickname "Jackrabbit") for his graceful movements during bank heists, e.g. leaping over the counter (a movement he supposedly copied from watching it in a movie), and narrow getaways from police.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
(1) I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth:
- Judas Iscariot: Judas Iscariot (died April AD 29-33) was, according to the Christian New Testament, one of the twelve original apostles of Jesus, and the one who betrayed him. According to the account given in the gospels, he carried the disciples' money box and betrayed Jesus for a bribe of "thirty pieces of silver" by identifying him with a kiss (the "kiss of Judas") to arresting soldiers of the High Priest Caiphas, who then turned Jesus over to Pontius Pilate's soldiers. Judas has been a figure of great interest to esoteric groups, such as many Gnostic sects, because of the apparent contradiction in the idea of "the betrayal of God". Judas is also the subject of many philosophical writings, discussing various problematic ideological contradictions: If Jesus foresees Judas' betrayal, then it may be argued that Judas has no free will, and cannot avoid betraying Jesus. If Judas cannot control his betrayal of Jesus, then he is not morally responsible for his actions. If Judas is sent to Hell for his betrayal, and his betrayal was a necessary step in the humanity-saving death of Jesus Christ, then Judas is being punished for saving humanity. If Jesus only suffered while dying on the cross, and then ascended into Heaven, while Judas must suffer for eternity in Hell, then Judas has suffered much more for the sins of humanity than Jesus. Does Jesus' plea, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do," (Luke 23:34) not apply to Judas? Most modern Christians, whether laity, clergy, or theologians, still consider Judas a traitor. Indeed the term Judas has entered many languages as a synonym for betrayer.
- John Wilkes Booth: Assassin of US president Abraham Lincoln (Ford's Theatre, Washington D.C. April 14, 1865). After the assassination Booth escaped from Washington, D.C. and was on the run for 12 days. He and David E. Herold, a coconspirator, were sleeping in a tobacco barn on the morning of Wednesday, April 26, 1865, when Union cavalry finally caught up with them. The soldiers surrounded the barn which was located about 60 miles south of Ford's Theatre near Port Royal, Virginia. Herold gave up but Booth refused. The barn was set on fire, and Booth was shot by one Boston Corbett.
(2) Down There By The Train: (Bone Machine outtake)
- Jim Jarmusch (1993): Man, you have so many songs. There are other songs you played for me that aren't on 'Bone Machine', like "Filipino Box Spring Hog". TW: Yeah, and "Tell It to Me", and "Mexican Song", "In the Reeperbahn", one called "Shall We Die Tonight", a suicide pact ballad, and then a couple for John Hammond at the same time, one called "Down There By the Train". JJ: Did he record it? TW: No, nobody did. And we couldn't find a way to do it either that felt good, so we just left it, and it's just sitting there. (Source: "Straight No Chaser" Straight No Chaser magazine (UK), by Jim Jarmusch. Date: October, 1992 (published early 1993)
- Terry Gross (2002): ... Johnny Cash... recorded your song "Down There By The Train". TW: Yeah right that killed me! That was, that was, that was wild. I was like "That's it, I'm all done now. Johnny Cash did a song... all done, thanks very much." That was really flattering you know. Lovely he did it too. TG: Oh yeah. Do you know how he knew the song or why he decided to record it? TW: Well a lot of people sent in tunes when he was doing this record with Rick Rubin. And eh different people that eh... you know, different songwriters sending in tunes and then he just picked them. I didn't know if he was doing it or not. I figured, well I hadn't done it. I don't know why I hadn't done it, I don't remember. And so eh... I didn't really know until the record came out. I said: "Wow that's great!" When someone is doing a tune, especially someone that you have been listening to since you were a kid, it's a bit of a validation... TG: Oh yeah... TW: ... and it's meaningful. TG: Johnny Cash is pretty validating when it comes to that. (laughs) TW: Yeah alright!... TG: So did you meet Johnny Cash? TW: No, I have not met Johnny Cash. I look forward to that day down the road. I would love to meet him. (Source: "Fresh Air interview with Tom Waits", Fresh Air with Terry Gross, produced in Philadelphia by WHYY. Radio show as archived on Fresh Air website. May 21, 2002)
- Tom Waits (2006): "On Orphans there is a mambo about a convict who breaks out of jail with a fishbone, a gospel train song about Charlie Whitman and John Wilkes Boothe, a delta blues about a disturbing neighbor, a spoken word piece about a woman who was struck by lightening, an 18th century Scottish madrigal about murderous sibling rivalry, an American backwoods a cappella about a hanging. Even a song by Jack Kerouac and a spiritual with my own personal petition to the Lord with prayer... There's even a show tune about an old altar boy and a rockabilly song about a young man who's begging to be lied to." (Source: Anti Records Orphans promo pack. August 2006)
- Tom Waits (2006); "I had a song covered by Johnny Cash, that was like a huge uh... thrill for me, you know? He would change some of it and I thought: "Oh, boy! Well I guess he must have thought it needed some changing!" "I should have talked to him before I finished! Probably could have helped me!" (Source: "Tom Waits: Rock Classics, With A Gravelly Rasp", NPR's World Café from WXPN (USA) by David Dye. December 15, 2006)
- Tom Waits (2007): "I had a friend who was playing guitar with him (Johnny Cash) at the time, [guitarist] Smokey Hormel. Smokey said, "Yeah, Johnny's going to be doing other people's tunes. Send us down something." But the version on [Orphans] isn't the original demo I sent. I did my version with Larry Taylor at Prairie Sun or Sputnik Sound, or one of those places." (Source: "A Conversation With Tom Waits", by Bob Mehr. Memphis Commercial Appeal. January 21, 2007)
(3) And Charlie Witman is on the Dillinger's wings:
- Charles Whitman: Charles Joseph Whitman (June 24, 1941 - August 1, 1966) is known for ascending The University of Texas at Austin's 27-story tower on August 1, 1966, and shooting passersby in the city and on the campus below, after having killed his mother and his wife the night before. In all Whitman killed 15 people and wounded 31 others before he was shot dead by Austin police. At autopsy Whitman was found to have suffered from a brain tumor affecting the limbic system. Whitman left a suicide note, a portion of which read: "I don't quite understand what it is that compels me to type this letter. Perhaps it is to leave some vague reason for the actions I have recently performed. I don't really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I can't recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts." The note explained that he had decided to murder both his mother and wife, but made no mention of the coming attacks at the University. He also requested that an autopsy be done after his death, to determine if there were anything to explain his actions and increasing headaches. He willed any money from his estate to be donated to mental health research, saying he hoped it would prevent others from following his route.
- MB (2006): Down There By The Train pursues that theme of redemption. What's the history of that song? TW: How many years ago, I don't know, Johnny Cash did a version of it, when he was doing the first of those American Recordings with Rick Rubin. I don't know who asked me; somebody said, "You got any songs for Johnny Cash?" I just about fell off my chair. I had a song and I hadn't recorded it. So I said, "Hey - it's got all the stuff that Johnny likes - trains and death, John Wilkes Booth, the cross... OK!" MB: It's such a wonderful song, the idea that even the worst sinners will be saved. "Charlie Whitman is holding on to Dillinger's wings, they're both down there by the train..." TW: Yeah, yeah, available to all. Charles Whitman -- he's the one that went up a tower in Texas and shot all those people. He was probably bipolar." (Source: "My Wild Years And The Woman That Saved My Life", Word magazine (UK), November 9, 2006. By Mick Brown)
- John Dillinger: John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 - July 22, 1934) was an American bank robber, considered by some to be a dangerous criminal, while others idealized him as a latter-day Robin Hood. He gained this reputation (and the nickname "Jackrabbit") for his graceful movements during bank heists, e.g. leaping over the counter (a movement he supposedly copied from watching it in a movie), and narrow getaways from police.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net