The DePTh oF The hole:
INTerTexTUalITy aND ToM WaITS’S
“Way DoWN IN The hole”
James Braxton Peterson
The opening theme music for hBo’s series The Wire is a song written by
Tom Waits entitled “Way Down in the hole” (1987). each year during the
series’ five-season run, the producers selected or solicited a different ver-
sion of the song. as a series, The Wire is often interpreted as lacking a
space for representations of black spirituality. each of the five seasons fea-
tures complex institutional characterizations and explorations of the
Street, the Port, the law, the hall (i.e., politics), the School, and/or the
Paper (i.e., media). Through these institu