Song of the Day 5/13: Tom Waits, “Looks Like I’m Up Shit Creek Again”

Of all the people in Trump’s As-Seen-On-TV cabinet, the downright weirdest might be RFK Jr. While just as deluded and fear-aggressive as any MAGAt, he’s at war with an entirely different set of threats and menaces. Human biology appears to be at the top of the list.

Washington, like Wilmington, has a combined sewer system, so when it rains the overflow dumps raw sewage into Rock Creek. Urban runoff, pet waste and aging sewer lines add to the pollution, which is why Rock Creek Park in Northwest Washington prohibits swimming. Despite posted warnings, RFK not only took jumped in, he took his young kids with him. And posted photographs. It would be like taking a dip in the Christina.

Unlike RFK, Tom Waits was being metaphorical. This was among the tunes he recorded in 1971, after signing a contract with manager Herb Cohen, who also handled Frank Zappa and Linda Ronstadt. Waits split with Cohen by the end of the ’70s, but the impresario cashed in those early tapes in 1991 with what was called “The Early Years: Volume One.”