Posted on 10/07/2008 at 10:39 AMCategory: MusicPosted by Tim
I never really got into Tom Waits, but a few of his songs hold a place in my heart. In my opinion, he's more of a lyricist than a song writer, but the author of this story sums it up a little better than I can...
"Music fans of all ages adore Tom Waits for his endless musical experimentation and his rock tumbler of a voice. For an unapologetic weirdo he’s very popular. Last year’s Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards sold well and contained almost no dead wood, surprising for a triple album with 56 songs. I bought my first Tom Waits album (Heartattack and Vine) because I had heard his amazing “Three Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen” on the soundtrack of the movie Basquiat. Heartattack and Vine took a long time to grow on me—it’s one of Waits’ transitional albums and most of the songs sound like they came out of a piano bar. After a while I got to like Waits’ bandsaw delivery and gin-soaked sound, but it took me a while to catch on that Waits also tells an excellent story. His songs create malformed little worlds, sometimes a noirish cityscape, sometimes a lurid carnival fantasy out of some sinister sepia playbill. Many of Waits’ songs, I think, would make great movies. I will on occasion suggest directors or movies similar to what I would envision—this will reveal my bland taste in movies, but undoubtedly Splice Today’s readers will educate me."
The author goes to list the songs he'd like to see made into movies, however, my favorite Waits' song wasn't on the list. The album version is better than this life performance I found, but it's still worth a listen.
