Som vanligt har Tom Waits skrivit sina sånger själv. Alla texter på medföljande blad.

"With its jarring rhythms and unusual instrumentation — marimba, accordion, various percussion — as well as its frequently surreal lyrics, Rain Dogs is very much a follow-up to Swordfishtrombones, which is to say that it sounds for the most part like The Threepenny Opera being sung by Howlin' Wolf....In the course of 19 tracks and 54 minutes, Waits sometimes goes back to the more conventional music of his earlier records, which seems like a retreat, though such tracks as the catchy "Hang Down Your Head," "Time," and especially "Downtown Train" (frequently covered and finally turned into a Top Ten hit by Rod Stewart five years later) provide some relief as well as variety....much of the music matches the earlier album, and there is so much of it that that is enough to qualify Rain Dogs as one of Waits' better albums." (William Ruhlmann, allmusic.com)
19 spår; speltid 54:04.

1. Singapore
2. Clap hands
3. Cemetery polka
4. Jockey full of bourbon
5. Tango till they´re sore
6. Big black Mariah
7. Diamonds and gold
8. Hang down your head
9. Time
10. Rain dogs
11. Midtown (Instrumental)
12. 9th & Hennepin
13. Gun Street girl
14. Union Square
15. Blind love
16. Walking spanish
17. Downtown train
18. Bride of rain dogs (Instrumental)
19. Anywhere I lay my head