16 posts tagged “tom waits”

Silent Night / A Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis

Tom Waits

"I wish I had all the money we used to spend on dope.  I think I'd buy me a used car lot.  Baby, I don't think I'd ever sell any of them.  Probably just drive me a different car every day depending on how I feel."

My apologies if somebody has already posted this version, Live from Austin City Limits, 1978.

Step Right Up

Tom Waits

2 comments

Top Artists for the week ending Sunday 19 October 2008

1		Tom Waits		30
2		Tony Joe White		20
3		Keb' Mo'		18
4		The Raconteurs		15
5		Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra		12
6		James Brown		8
7		Robyn Hitchcock		7
7		Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers		7
7		The Modern Lovers		7
10		Flight of the Conchords		5
10		Johnny Cash		5

What can I say about Tom Waits that hasn't already been said more eloquently by somebody else.  He's a mad genius.  He makes unsuspecting people ask, "What ARE you listening to?"  He can make me laugh and cry.  His phrases rattle around in my brain.  When they pop unbidden to the forefront of my thoughts they make me laugh out loud and look like a crazy-lady.

We're All Mad Here

Tom Waits

The last.fm was a little late churning out the charts this week, so you were deprived of your unsual monday chart with accompanying tunes.  I know that must have really put a damper on your week.

Top Artists this Week (see more)

24 Feb 2008 – 2 Mar 2008

	1		Tom Waits	30
	2		Sly & The Family Stone	25
–	3		Arthur Alexander	21
2	4		Ben Harper	18
	5		Ben Vaughn Combo	15
	6		The Clash	14
6	7		Paul Kelly and The Messengers	9
	8		Max Raabe & Palast Orchester	8
	9		Max Raabe & Das Palast Orchester	6
	10		The Rolling Stones	5

This week we are going to do a little Tom Waits.  There are so many words that I could shower down on this page to describe Tom's art: eerie, theatrical,experimental, literate, quirky, gritty, witty, and wry are but a few. 

The following songs are from Bone Machine.  I have a special fondness for BM based primarily on the events surrounding me at the time of its release (1992).  However, as I listen to the songs over the years I realize that, regardless of what was going on with me then, some of these are frickin' fantastic songs.

This first one appeals to me to because it mentions drifters, roadkill, a lady drinking alone in her room, a bloodstained ax, and contains the line "There's always some killin' you need to do around a farm."  (I am pretty sure that this song has nothing to do with the famous Red Barn Murder of 1827.)
 

Murder In The Red Barn

Tom Waits

Now thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house
Or covet thy neighbor's wife
But for some
Murder is the only door through which they enter life

Here is another of my best-loved songs from Bone Machine that Tom co-wrote with Keef Richard.  It's sad and soulful and full of wisely turned phrases.

That Feel

Tom Waits

I cross my wooden leg
And I swear on my glass eye
It will never leave you high and dry
Never leave you loose
It's harder to get rid of than tattoos

Hey, LOOK!  It's Frank Black covering Tom Waits' "The Black RIder!"

The Black Rider

Frank Black

Frank Black - Black Rider

For the Calliopians:
I have been jonesing for a reason to post this song.  Here's more Tom.  One of my favorites from Bone Machine.

Black Wings

Tom Waits