song "Way Down in the Hole" by Tom Waits
E726104
“Way Down in the Hole” is a gospel-inflected blues song by Tom Waits, best known for its haunting, spiritually themed lyrics and for serving as the opening theme in multiple seasons of the TV series *The Wire*.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Way Down in the Hole | 0 |
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf | song ⓘ |
| associatedWithCharacter | The Wire ensemble cast NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedWithTelevisionGenre | crime drama ⓘ |
| associatedWithTelevisionNetwork | HBO GENERATED ⓘ |
| composer | Tom Waits NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| creator | Tom Waits NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| featuredIn | The Wire NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| firstReleaseYear | 1987 ⓘ |
| genre |
blues
ⓘ
gospel ⓘ gospel blues ⓘ |
| hasCultFollowing | true ⓘ |
| hasCulturalImpact | closely associated with The Wire’s identity ⓘ |
| hasKeyLyricMotive | keeping the devil way down in the hole ⓘ |
| hasLyricsTheme |
faith
ⓘ
good versus evil ⓘ religious imagery ⓘ spiritual struggle ⓘ temptation ⓘ |
| hasMusicalCharacteristic |
bluesy instrumentation
ⓘ
gospel-influenced vocals ⓘ haunting mood ⓘ |
| hasNotableCoverVersionBy |
Steve Earle
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
The Blind Boys of Alabama NERFINISHED ⓘ The Five Blind Boys of Alabama NERFINISHED ⓘ The Neville Brothers NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasVocalStyle | gravelly baritone ⓘ |
| includedIn | Franks Wild Years original cast recording NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| lyricist | Tom Waits NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partOf | Tom Waits discography NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partOfAlbum | Franks Wild Years NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| performer | Tom Waits NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| publicationDate | 1987 ⓘ |
| recordLabel |
Island Records
ⓘ
Island Records Ltd. NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| trackNumber | 10 ⓘ |
| usedAs | television series opening theme ⓘ |
| usedAsOpeningThemeFor | The Wire NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| usedAsOpeningThemeInSeason |
The Wire season 1
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
The Wire season 2 NERFINISHED ⓘ The Wire season 3 NERFINISHED ⓘ The Wire season 4 NERFINISHED ⓘ The Wire season 5 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| writtenFor | Franks Wild Years stage production ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.