This is one of my favourite songs from Tom. He went into beast-mode on this track depicting the horrors of war. Someone wrote: ‘I listen to this every night before I go to sleep… Tom Waits voice scares all the…
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Heartattack and Vine (1980) – Tom Waits
Heartattack and Vine is the title track from Tom Wait’s 1980 album. What really struck me about the live performance below are the fabulous instrumentals of gutbucket blues with rock edges. Tom’s a great lyricist, storyteller and performer, but the…
Nirvana – Tom Waits reads Charles Bukowski
Today’s Wednesday literature post features a reading by Tom Waits of Charles Bukowski’s poem Nirvana. Jordan Peterson uses it in his presentation below to great effect. If you want to just listen to Tom’s narration you can watch it from…
Hang Down Your Head (1985) – Tom Waits
Hang Down Your Head is the second song to feature here from Tom Waits’ highly acclaimed Rain Dogs record. The song is in the same vein as Tom Waits’ earlier work, featuring a more gentle and conventional melodic structure about…
Filipino Box Spring Hog (1999) – Tom Waits
This is a lot of fun to listen to a bit dishevelled and frivolous. I find with Tom Waits you have to be in the mood and if not, he will soon put you in the mood. When listening to…
Downtown Train (1984) – Tom Waits
Downtown Train is a song by Tom Waits released on his album Rain Dogs in 1985. I remember hearing Rob Stewart’s version in my youth which was a huge hit. Bob Seger and Patty Smyth also recorded a version of…
Dead and Lovely (2004) – Tom Waits
Dead and Lovely is the fifth song presented here by Tom Waits. It comes from his 16th studio album Real Gone. It tells the story steeped in the Noir genre of a middle class girl lured into the underworld by…
Cemetery Polka (1985) – Tom Waits
The whacky circus music and Waits accustomed minstrel role is all here. You know good writing in a song when you have great characterization in few short words, but it’s elusive enough to impel the reader to interpret it based…
Big In Japan (1999) – Tom Waits
The first line of Big in Japan sums things up pretty well – ‘I got the style, but not the grace’. I am a huge fan of this song and I wish I had come across it much sooner in…
Bad as Me (2011) – Tom Waits
You’re the head on the spear You’re the nail on the cross You’re the fly in my beer You’re the key that got lost You’re the letter from Jesus on the bathroom wall You’re mother superior in only a bra…
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