Play 230: Tom Waits is Still the Man

CHARACTERS
VINCENT, 17
FRANK, 17

(They are sitting listening to music.)

VINCENT
Know who’s lyrics are really interesting?

FRANK
Who?

VINCENT
Tom Waits.

FRANK
I haven’t listened to too much of him.

VINCENT
That’s too bad.

FRANK
Yeah.

VINCENT
He’s awesome.

FRANK
You’ve told me.

VINCENT
Oh.

(Beat.)

But I love his lyrics, they’re incredibly bizarre, but in a really interesting way.

FRANK
That’s cool.

VINCENT
Yeah, he has the Bob Dylan stream of consciousness kind of thing going, but in a completely psychotic way so they don’t exactly make sense most of the time but convey the emotion of the song really well.

FRANK
Sounds interesting.

VINCENT
Yeah.

(Beat.)

Like I love this one line of his—aboard a shipwreck train.

FRANK
That’s not that weird.

VINCENT
Really?

FRANK
It seems to make sense to me.

VINCENT
How?

FRANK
Well, it’s like a train-wreck or whatever.

VINCENT
But he says shipwreck train.

FRANK
Oh.

(Beat.)

That is weird.

VINCENT
I know.

(Beat.)

Or I love the first verse of the song.

FRANK
What is it?

VINCENT
Inside a broken clock, splashing all the wine with all the rain dogs
Taxi, we’d rather walk, huddle in a doorway with the rain dogs
For I am a rain dog too.

FRANK
What the fuck?

VINCENT
Exactly.

FRANK
That makes no sense.

VINCENT
No, but it’s really amusing and cool.

FRANK
I guess.

VINCENT
His lyrics grow on you.

FRANK
Okay.

(Beat.)

But just curious…

VINCENT
Yeah?

FRANK
What the hell is a rain dog?

VINCENT
I have absolutely no idea.

(Beat.)

(Vincent laughs to himself.)

FRANK
What?

VINCENT
Oh, I just love this simile he uses in one of his songs, it’s one of the strangest ones I’ve ever heard.

FRANK
What is it?

VINCENT
Independent as a hog on ice.

FRANK
What the fuck?

VINCENT
Exactly.

(Blackout.)