10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Wire Theme Song & Intro

The Wire is a popular crime series, written by a former police reporter, David Simon. The theme song of the show is “Way Down in the Hole.”

This song is written by singer and lyricist Tom Waits. The song is controversial and weighty in its meaning and while the meaning of the lyrics seems pretty straightforward, many viewers of The Wire haven’t really sat down to listen to the song or consider its meaning. Here are 10 things about the theme song and introduction of The Wire which viewers might not know.

10 Gospel Message

The song which begins The Wire is clearly a gospel song, mentioning Jesus Christ as saviour and mentioning Satan as the deceiver and instigator of evil.

This fire-and-brimstone song is sung from the perspective of an evangelist, warning that Jesus is the only way and the devil would tempt the Lord’s children away from this truth. This apt theme brings good and evil into the picture from the outset, setting the scene for the crime drama to follow.

9 Dark And Dense

Lyricist Tom Waits is known for his intense lyrics. His style is called ‘dark and dense’, not surprising if one considers the lyrics of Way Down In The Hole. He is also the author of four musicals and he has acted in several movies. It appears he has a fascination with topics around good and evil, with one of his musicals entitled, The Black Rider. Waits is also an award winner, acknowledged for his musical prowess. In 2011, the talented musician was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

8 Themes Of Betrayal

The song Way Down In The Hole begins with the line, ‘When you walk through the garden‘. This might refer to the Garden of Gethsemane. This is the garden in which Jesus prayed through the night before his famous betrayal by Judas. The theme of the series deals with crime, betrayals and injustices, similar to the themes of Gethsemane. Churches often refer to the event of Jesus in Gethsemane as The Agony In The Garden of Gethsemane.

7 One Song, Many Versions

The Wire was divided into different seasons in the years that it was showcased, from 2002 to 2008. Interestingly, The Wire didn’t use one version of the song for all of its seasons.

Each season used a different version of the song, utilizing the gifting of various artists: Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, The Neville Brothers, Steve Earle and DoMaJe. This variety added interest and intrigue for the season and each new recording set apart each season from the next.

6 An Evangelist Warns

The voice behind the song is supposedly a berserk evangelist trying to convert Frank in the singer’s Frank’s Wild Years album. Frank is a character caught by numerous besetting sins, including women, alcohol and drugs. The evangelist warns him about the devil using these temptations to hold him, and urges him to take the hand of Jesus as he walks through the garden. The idea of temptation and its consequences in the life of Frank is made clear, and attributed to the work of Satan.

5 Lyricist Gives Key

4 Taking Center Stage

3 Specific Recording

Different versions of the song were made for the show, depending on the season in question. Each set the mood for the episode which followed and having different variations allowed the seasons to be distinct from each other. The version for Season 4 was made by five Baltimore teenagers.

These, belonged to a group called DoMaJe and included Ivan Ashford, Markel Steele, Cameron Brown, Tariq Al-Sabir and Avery Bargasse. A lot of thought went into this recording and it was arranged and recorded specifically for The Wire. It also put DoMaJe on the map.

2 The Song Of A Legend

Heard of Woodstock? How about Waitstock? Tom Waits has had festivals held in his name – 13 to be exact. These have been held on a farm holding near New York. The first one was attended by just five people in 1991. Visitors to Waitstock have always enjoyed free entrance and there have always been some interesting additions to the show, including several black cats released during the song, ‘Mystery Hour‘. Somehow knowing all of this adds depth and perception to the opening song of The Wire.

1 It’s Dry, But You Can Eat It

Tom Waits has one of the driest senses of humor out. Listening to the lyrics of The Wire theme song, viewers can sense the intensity of the person behind the lines. Still, the extent of Waits’ eccentricity isn’t quite evident. The quirky existentialist, who considers heaven and hell in many of his lyrics, as in the song in question, also likes quizzes, collecting useless facts and confesses to having a favorite sound: the sound of bacon frying in a pan.