Sometime in the eighties we lost the Waits we loved, and loved the Waits who came back, but it’s the equivalent of seeing your old high school sweetheart ten years later and he’s still just as charming, but life has changed him so it’s as though he’s another person completely different than the boy who pushed you on the swings in Norman, Oklahoma. Like most of my ex-sweethearts who’ve long since gotten boring, I blame their wives. Kathleen Brennan, I love you because Tom Waits loves you, but you managed to simultaneously save him from becoming a lounge-parody of himself, but you turned him into something only you could love. It’s romantic and, like most great romances, it’s depressing to the rest of us.
Hipster Rick and I finish brawling and I’ve got to get to work, so I bid both Rick and Waits a goodbye. Outside the mongrel wind gnaws my face and I think about every time I’d put on a Waits tune, how each song wasn’t simply an illumination of a moment, but the moment itself. Whether he’s crooning or clanging, it is those moments which make his music unparalleled.
The Retro Music Chick’s Five Favorite Tom Waits Songs:
1) “Drunk on the Moon” (The Heart of Saturday Night)
2) “Tango ‘til They’re Sore” (Rain Dogs)
3) “Little Trip to Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love)” (Closing Time)
4) “Alice” (Alice)
5) “Tom Traubert’s Blues (Three Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)” (Small Change)
Article comments
1 - Dave
That's funny; I was just talking about this subject today with a guy at work when we discovered that we both liked TW, but when I mentioned that I thought that the good stuff started with Swordfishtrombones, and he said that was exactly the opposite of most people's opinion.
2 - Vern Halen
I'mm a Swordfishtrombones kinda guy myself. I think it's kinda the same thing as with Coltrane some like his 50's stuff, some prefer his Impulse! recordings that started to go all squirrelly (I mean that in a good way). Of course, count me in for Ascension over Giant Steps.
3 - MightyTiny
I really enjoy the Waits of all eras; the early bar-stool poet era, the wonderful swordfishtrombones-raindogs re-invention of Waits, The out-there-experimental-yet-oddly-appealing Black Rider, and the brilliant Bone Machine. Alice was a beauty, and Blood Money wonderfully Kurt Weilish. Real Gone took a little getting used to, but it has some real gems on it; It is, I think, among the least accessible of Waits' material though, so I understand why someone might not enjoy listening to it.
Orphans however... I REALLY recommend you save up for it, or drop a hint to someone looking to buy you a Christmass present. I think Orphans ranks among Waits' all time best. And I think, from what you describe liking of Waits, you'd be in heaven listening to the "Bawlers" disc. :)
I've been listening to Orphans daily now for a few weeks, and I can't seem to get enough of it. It was WELL worth the money.
4 - Retro Music Chick
Of course I'll get Orphans! I'll probably end up with six copies of it, since it's what I told everybody I wanted for Christmas! :)
5 - Michael
You can download Orphans from emusic.com for cheap (and yes it is a legal site).