Election Soundtrack #20: Bring 'em Home Edition #2

As poll updates are announced, and as the pundits issue their final predictions, I find it hard to remain somber. Still, I will try to keep my ebullience in check for another 24 hours. So, here’s one more on the theme of bringing home the soldiers: Tom Waits singing an achingly heart-rending coming-home story. For those whose ears aren't attuned to Tom Wait's graveled voice, the lyrics follow.



The Day After Tomorrow
(Tom Waits)

I got your letter today
And I miss you all so much, here
I can't wait to see you all
And I long for your touch, dear
I still believe that there's gold
At the end of the world
And I'll come home
To Illinois
On the day after tomorrow

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
What I miss you won't believe
Shoveling snow and raking leaves
And my plane will touch tomorrow
On the day after tomorrow

I close my eyes
Every night
And I dream that I can hold you
They fill us full of lies
That everyone buys
About what it means to be a soldier
I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel
About all the blood that's been spilled
And my plane
It will touch down
On the day after tomorrow

You can't deny
The other side
They don't want to die
Any more than we do
What I'm trying to say,
Is don't they pray
To the same God that we do?
Tell me, how does God choose?
Whose prayers does he refuse?
Who throws the dice,
And who spins the wheel
On the day after tomorrow?

I'm not fighting
For justice
I am not fighting
For freedom
I am fighting
For my life
And another day
In the world here
I just do what I've been told
We're just the gravel on the road
Will God on his throne
Please get me back home
On the day after tomorrow?

And the summer
It too will fade
And with it comes the winter's frost, dear
And I know we too are made
Of all the things that we have lost here
I'll be twenty-one today
I've been saving all my pay
And my plane, it will touch down
On the day after tomorrow

And my plane, it will touch down
On the day after tomorrow