The fifth season of The Wire has received a tremendous amount of press, most of it slavering over the pure genius of the show (I include myself in that). There has also been a fair amount of debate regarding the direction of this season. Is David Simon giving too much airtime to the newsroom at the expense of characters we’ve come to love? Has McNulty’s recent insanity strained the believability of his character? On a scale of 1 to 10, exactly how much do you want to see that punk-ass Marlo get what’s coming to him? (The only correct answer to that last one is 11.) However, there has been remarkably little discussion of this season’s version of the show’s theme song.
Tom Waits may have recorded “Way Down in the Hole” back in 1987, but twenty years later most people only know it as the theme to The Wire, if they know it at all. And that’s a damn shame, because this is one hell of an awesome song. Each season of the show features a new version of the tune, and they all interpret it differently. The Blind Boys of Alabama brought out its lowdown, bluesy notes, perfect for the first season’s focus on Baltimore’s inner-city drug trade. In season 2, Waits himself, the poet laureate of America’s working class, set the tone for the stories of the dock workers. Each season has used the theme to set the stage for its story arc, and I’m curious to see how Steve Earle’s version will match the show’s final season.
Have a listen to the clips below, then tell me: does this season’s rendition live up to those that have come before? And which is your favorite take on the song?
t count.) Influential, yes, as seen in the slightly increased visibility of gay supporting characters, but I don’t see any towering rainbow structures being built on its groundbreaking premise.
