Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: A few questions (Tom Waits)

I was reading some lyrics from 'Mule Variations', and there are so many 
interesting things that I can't figure out; may be someone can help...any
Tom Waits fans out there?
what means 'to get behind the mule' ?
In 'the pony' it says:
I worked for nothin in a
Belzoni saw mill. I caught a
blind out on the B and O
Talullah's friendly Belzoni ain't so
A 44'll get you 99
Any idea about the blind on the B and O and the 44 that gets you 99?
and what means 'cooking up a Filipino Box Spring hog' ?
As an anticipated reward for coming replies, here is one 
absolutely beautiful verse from 'Georgia Lee':
Close your eyes and count to ten
I will go and hide but then
be sure to find me. I want you to find me
and we'll play all over
We'll play all over again.

 and what means 'cooking up a Filipino Box Spring hog' ?
Dunno, what's the context? It has a disturbing casino-like sound to it, no
accent. Maybe the piano has been drinking?
Ciao,
Ron
USA


here is some more context; it baffles me completely
             Well I hung on to Mary's stump
             I danced with a soldier's glee
             With a rum soaked crook
             And a big fat laugh
             I spent my last dollar on thee
             I saw Bill Bones, gave him a yell
             Kehoe spiked the nog
             With a chain link fence
             And a scrap iron jaw
             Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring hog
             Spider rolled in from
             Hollister Burn
             With a one-eyed stolen Mare
             Donned himself with chicken fat
             Sawin on a jaw bone violin there
             Kathleen was sittin down
             In little reds recovery room
             In her criminal underwear bra
             I was naked to the waist
             With my fierce black hound
             And I'm cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog
             Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog
             Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog
Thanks!

              Cookin up a Filipino Box Spring Hog
I'd have to do too much inventing to make this seem sensical. In this case
perhaps it's true that the piano has been drinking. The meaning may be
idiolectic.
Ciao,
Ron
USA

 help...any Tom Waits fans out there?
I'm no Tom Waits fan, but I took the trouble to search around a bit and
just came across something that might be of great help to you:
  Tom Waits Supplement
 
http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSupplement/index2.htm
On this site, lyrics from plenty of Tom Waits's songs are extensively
analyzed and commented, including some (perhaps all) of those you
mentioned, e.g.:
 
 
http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSupplement/Lyrics/Mulevariations/
 
Hope this helps.
Max

   
http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSupplement/index2.htm
I went there and looked up "Filipino box-spring hog."
"When we lived on Union Avenue in L.A., we had parties. We sawed the floorboards
out of the living room, and we took the bed, the box spring, and first dug out
the hole and filled it with wood, poured gasoline on it, and lit a fire. And the
box spring over the top, that was the grill. We brought in a pig and cooked it
right there." (A Q&A about Mule Variations. MSO: Rip Rense, early 1999)
Idiolectic in the extreme. ;-)
Ciao,
Ron
USA


Sounds like the right place for me...thanks!