Volgens Tom Waits gaat dit eigenlijk niet zozeer over de aarde, maar over de mens. De aarde overleeft het wel, voor homo sapiens daarentegen ziet Tom de toekomst somber in: “I don’t think it’s going to die screaming, I think we’re going to die screaming, in the swamp of time”. De bizarre beelden zijn deels van eigen makelij (It rained mackerel, it rained trout), deels ontleend aan het ultieme apocalyptische geschrift, het bijbelboek Openbaringen,
[Verse 1]
Rudy’s on the midway, and Jacob’s in the hole
The monkey’s on the ladder, the devil shovels coal
With crows as big as airplanes, the lion has three heads
And someone will eat the skin that he sheds
[Chorus]
Well, the earth died screaming
While I lay dreaming
Well, the earth died screaming
While I lay dreaming
Dreaming of you
[Verse 2]
Well, hell doesn’t want you, and heaven is full
Bring me some water, put it in this skull
I walk between the raindrops, I wait in bug house square
And the army ants, they leave nothin’ but the bones
[Chorus]
And the earth died screaming
While I lay dreaming
Well, the earth died screaming
While I lay dreaming
Well, the earth died screaming
While I lay dreaming
Dreaming of you
[Verse 3]
There was thunder, there was lightning
Then the stars went out and the moon fell from the sky
It rained mackerel, it rained trout
And the great day of wrath has come
And here’s mud in your big red eye
The poker’s in the fire and the locusts take the sky
[Chorus]
Well, the earth died screaming
While I lay dreaming
Well, the earth died screaming
While I lay dreaming
Well, the earth died screaming
While I lay dreaming
I lay dreaming of you (dreaming of you)
I’m dreaming of you (dreaming of you)
I’m dreaming of you (dreaming of you)
I’m dreaming of you (dreaming of you)
Uitgelichte afbeelding: By Albert Goodwin – http://www.artrenewal.org/artwork/154/3154/32410/apocalypse-large.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17090743
