Holiday Depression in “The Day After Tomorrow” by Tom Waits
A blog post (Christmas Version)
Name a better sad holiday song than “The Day After Tomorrow”- I’ll wait. The plucky, slow, American midwest religious trauma monologue to the questions we ask ourselves as the seasonal depression starts to set in always makes a return in my music rotation around this time of year. In the emotional setting of the song, a young soldier, far from home, feels torn between the atrocities he is seeing in war and the truly American Christmas nostalgia and tradition he is craving. I first found this song- as many of you reading may have- through the Phoebe Bridgers cover released in 2021 and fell in love with it immediately. However, I chose to analyze Tom Waits’ original version, released in 2004. A little necessary context, the war in Iraq was in full swing under former President George Bush. VERY condensed- The U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 to “stop terrorism” because of the 9/11 attacks and also the Gulf War (Kuwait in the 80s/early 90s) and Al-Quidea and Saddam Husien, but really they just killed a lot of Iraqi civilians and spent a bunch of money on guns and bombs, and suprise suprise terrorism is still a thing. Turns out imperialism isn’t cool or chill at all. The war serves as the oppressing force in the song.
The opening line is gray, “It is so hard and it's cold here / And I'm tired of taking orders / And I miss old Rockford town / Up by the Wisconsin border.” Taking orders refers to the military, but in the context of depression, I think it describes the distance we feel when fulfilling our orders (obligations like school, work, family time, etc). “...tired of taking orders” is not understanding the gravity of our actions as we make them, because how could we have the energy to care? “And I miss old Rockford town/ Up by the Wisconsin border” works to build out the backstory of the soldier. The ever relatable midwest hometown is a deeply poetic and American kind of sadness.
The first chorus, “What I miss, you won't believe / Shoveling snow and raking leaves / And my plane will touch down / On the day after tomorrow” continues with this poetic normal American winter, but adds a new element to our soldier, he is coming home from war soon. We are to believe he has seen the bloodiest, roughest, most trauma-inducing scenes of war, and all he can think about is “shoveling snow and raking leaves” in his hometown.
Escapism is the central theme of the song, exemplified in the third verse, “I close my eyes every night / And I dream that I can hold you / They fill us full of lies, everyone buys / About what it means to be a soldier” In the context of seasonal depression, this hallowing disparity of who we are told to be (“they fill us full of lies…/… what it means to be a soldier”), and who we are at night when we close our eyes and dream is the true pain of youthful depression.
Verse four and five both shift the painful reality of war that the soldier is struggling with to questioning God, with the chorus between the two being different from any other part of the song, “Tell me how does God choose / Whose prayers does he refuse? / Who turns the wheel? / Who throws the dice? / On the day after tomorrow?” In our working context, the repetitive series of questioning of a higher powers' existence while there is so much suffering in the world is a common byproduct of depression (at least in my experience!). Questioning of the self, the world around, blood spilled; it’s so me.
My favorite lines in the song come in verse five, “I am not fighting for justice / I am not fighting for freedom / I am fighting for my life / And another day in the world here.” A man wrote this? Just kidding. These ideals of justice and freedom are so far removed from the soldier’s mind that he can only see what is directly in front of him (his fragile life, war, etc). Holiday depression is kind of like that too. It’s everyone around you being happy, happy seasonal movies, happy seasonal songs, and then you, who is “fighting for your life”. Sung so shaky and raw, these lines are the essence of the song. Depression feels like a war, it feels unjust and trapped, you are literally fighting for “another day in the world here”. We are all kind of in wars in our own heads all the time- whether you’re going home for the holidays or staying alone, we should remember to take extra care of ourselves around this time of year. We should also remember how much George Bush sucks. Happy holidays, be safe, and take some Vitamin D.