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The meaning of the lyrics of the song "The Ghosts of Saturday Night (After Hours at Napoleone’s Pizza House)" by the artist "Tom Waits"

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The song "The Ghosts of Saturday Night (After Hours at Napoleone’s Pizza House)" by Tom Waits paints a picture of a late night steeped in melancholy and loneliness. The lyrical hero, possibly a sailor, wanders through the night city, seeking solace in chance encounters and cigarettes. The image of a taxi chasing the last customer symbolizes the passing of time and the futility of chasing ghostly hopes.

The sailor, like a fairytale hero, "throws stories to strangers," trying to exchange his tales for crumbs of attention and warmth. He dreams of a girl with "Maxwell House" eyes—a symbol of comfort and home. The image of Irene, with a lock of blonde hair falling over her eyes, remains blurred, perhaps just a figment of his imagination, a ghost of desired love.

Night gives way to dawn, and the city is transformed. The first signs of life appear: a barker at the kiosk offering a simple breakfast, the morning press. The phrase "pig in a blanket - sixty-nine cents" emphasizes the prosaic nature of the coming day. The image of "Adam and Eve on a log" (fried eggs with bread) is an ironic commentary on the theme of love and relationships, reduced to an everyday level.

In the finale of the song, the city appears as an arena where the eternal play of life is played out. It goes to those who are not afraid of their desires and are ready to dance with the "ghosts of Saturday night" - the shadows of unfulfilled hopes, loneliness, and melancholy.

A cab combs the snake, tryin' to rake in that last night's fare

And a solitary sailor, who spends the facts of his life like small

Change on strangers

Paws his inside peacoat pocket for a welcome twenty-five cents

And the last bent butt from a package of Kents

As he dreams of a waitress with Maxwell House eyes

And marmalade thighs with scrambled yellow hair

Her rhinestone-studded moniker says "Irene"

As she wipes the wisps of dishwater blonde from her eyes

And the Texaco beacon burns on

The steel-belted attendant with a ring and valve special

Crying

'Fill 'er up and check that oil

You know it could be your distributor and it could be your coil'

The early morning final edition is on the stands

And the town crier is crying there with nickels in his hands

Pigs in a blanket, sixty-nine cents

Eggs, roll 'em over, and a package of Kents

Adam and Eve on a log, you can sink 'em down straight

Hash browns, hash browns, you know I can't be late

And the early dawn cracks out a carpet of diamonds

Across a cash crop car lot, filled with twilight Coupe De Villes

Leaving the town in the keeping

Of the one who is sweeping

Up the ghosts of Saturday night

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