Galen som en...

På skivan Rain Dogs från1985 använder Tom Waits uttrycket "Mad as a hatter" i inte mindre än två låtar. Detta kan inte tolkas som någonting annat än ett starkt socialt patos. The mad hatter syndrome är ju inget annat än hattmakarnas motsvarighet till asbestos och silikos. Det är väl inte De mördades fria republik direkt, men i Da Vinci-kodens tidevarv så gäller väl "själv är bäste hermeneutiker!"

Singapore
We sail tonight for Singapore, we're all as mad as hatters here. I've fallen for a tawny Moor, took off to the land of Nod. Drank with all the Chinamen, walked the sewers of Paris. I danced along a colored wind, dangled from a rope of sand. You must say goodbye to me.

Diamonds and Gold
What some men will do here for diamonds. What some men will do here for
gold. They're wounded but they just keep on climbing. And sleep by the side of
the road. There's a hole in the ladder, a fence we can climb. Mad as a
hatter, you're thin as a dime. Go out to the meadow, the hills are
a-green. Sing me a rainbow, steal me a dream.