As regular viewers of The Wire will know, each season’s opening credits sequence features a different version of the Tom Waits song Way Down In The Hole.

So which one is the best? They’re all pretty splendid, but me and fellow office The Wire dafty Keith reckon the Tom Waits original used for series two is the finest, followed by the Steve Earle version that’s being used for the fifth series (starting on FX next Monday, 21 July, at 10pm, in case you still need reminding). Jim, a relatively new convert to the appeals of The Wire, says The Blind Boys of Alabama’s version from series 1.

Anyway, judge for yourself with clips below, and let us know what you think…

Series 1: The Blind Boys of Alabama

Series 2: Tom Waits

Series 3: The Neville Brothers

Series 4: DoMaJe

Series 5: Steve Earle

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