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Tom waits - Soldier's things

Anyone ever heard the song? Here’s the lyrics: Davenports and kettle drums and swallow tail coats table cloths and patent leather shoes bathing suits and bowling balls and clarinets and rings and all this radio really needs is a fuse a tinker, a tailor a soldier’s things his rifle, his boots full of rocks and this one is for bravery and this one is for me and everything’s a dollar in this box

Cuff links and hub caps trophies and paperbacks it’s good transportation but the brakes aren’t so hot neck tie and boxing gloves this jackknife is rusted you can pound that dent out on the hood a tinker, a tailor a soldier’s things his rifle, his boots full of rocks oh and this one is for bravery and this one is for me and everything’s a dollar in this box

I know hes talking about a soldier, what what exactly do you think the soldier is doing in the song?

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Answer #1

I could be totally wrong:

To me it sounds like a soldier either still in station or one that is reminissing about the past and looking at old things and it’s taking him back to the time when he was a soldier.

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