Way Down in the Hole explained

Way Down in the Hole
Artist:	Tom Waits
Album:	Franks Wild Years
Length:	3:30

"Way Down in the Hole" is a song written by the singer-songwriter Tom Waits. It was included on his 1987 album Franks Wild Years, which was first presented as a stage production put on by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company^[1] in Chicago, Illinois.

The song was used as the theme for HBO's The Wire.^{[2] [3]} A different recording was used each season. Versions, in series order, were recorded by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, The Neville Brothers, DoMaJe, and Steve Earle. Season four's version, performed by the Baltimore teenagers Ivan Ashford, Markel Steele, Cameron Brown, Tariq Al-Sabir and Avery Bargasse, was arranged and recorded specifically for the show.^[4] An extended version of the Blind Boys of Alabama recording was played over a montage in the series finale.

In 2004, music historian Kim Beissel said that the 1994 song "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was loosely based on "Way Down in the Hole".^[5]

References

1. Web site: Frank's Wild Years . 2023-03-28 . www.steppenwolf.org . en.
2. Book: Alvarez, Rafael . The Wire: Truth Be Told - The Complete Official Series Guide . . 2009 . 246–248.
3. Book: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137305251_7 . 10.1057/9781137305251_7 . The Depth of the Hole: Intertextuality and Tom Waits's "Way Down in the Hole" . The Hip-Hop Underground and African American Culture . 2014 . Peterson . James Braxton . 119–138 . 978-1-349-45480-8 .
4. Web site: "The Wire" on HBO: Play Or Get Played, Exclusive Q&A With David Simon (p. 16) . 2006 . 17 October 2007.
5. [Original Seeds]