# Tell me about Tom Waits **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590 "2014-09-26T03:18:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/1 "2014-09-26T03:18:15Z")
A few months ago, when the second season of Orange Is The New Black came out, I found Tom Waits via “Come On Up To The House” which is featured in OITNB S2E9. I picked out the “pretty” songs from that album (Mule Variations), and bought those, leaving the grungy experimental ones behind. I needed to edge into Tom Waits gently, you know? So now I am listening to Rain Dogs and freaking loving it. While some of the songs are still too weird for me to digest, none of them are too weird for me to listen to. So tell me… where do I go next? Are there other albums with “pretty,” more approachable songs like those on Mule Variations? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/2 "2014-09-26T03:29:22Z")
[Nighthawks at the Diner](http://www.allmusic.com/album/nighthawks-at-the-diner-mw0000198501) is very approachable. It’s packed with good songs, great writing, and the music is mostly jazzy in a straightahead way but it’s not boring. It’s coffeehouse style. And he’s very funny during and between songs. In places he’s about this close to being a standup comic. You get rewarded if you listen closely to the words but musically it goes down easy. He didn’t start doing the experimental stuff until later in his career- I think with Swordfishtrombones. And I like the experimental stuff too, but it works best in small doses because his voice is so abrasive. (I find Anywhere I Lay My Head almost unlistenable.) We had a troll here a long time ago who described Waits’ more _outre_ stuff as “scary hobo banging on trash cans,” and even though I like some of that stuff I thought that was hilarious and pretty accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/3 "2014-09-26T03:42:19Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He didn’t start doing the experimental stuff until later in his career- I think with Swordfishtrombones. And I like the experimental stuff too, but it works best in small doses because his voice is so abrasive. (I find Anywhere I Lay My Head almost unlistenable.) We had a troll here a long time ago who described Waits’ more _outre_ stuff as “scary hobo banging on trash cans,” and even though I like some of that stuff I thought that was hilarious and pretty accurate. Swordfishtrombones does also have some of his most lovely songs…“Johnsburg, Illinois”, a love letter to his wife…“Town With No Cheer”, an elegy for an abandoned outback train station…and “In the Neighborhood”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/4 "2014-09-26T03:44:12Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Swordfishtrombones does also have some of his most lovely songs…“Johnsburg, Illinois”, a love letter to his wife…“Town With No Cheer”, an elegy for an abandoned outback train station…and “In the Neighborhood”. And Rain Dogs has Time, which is an incredibly beautiful song. But they’re both challenging listens in places. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/5 "2014-09-26T03:46:46Z")
“Closing Time” is the album you want. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/6 "2014-09-26T03:47:41Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7UHd7NVegE) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fsBj65IODk ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/7 "2014-09-26T03:51:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > (I find Anywhere I Lay My Head almost unlistenable.) _jawdrop_ I read this just as I am listening to it for the third time in a row, because _I love it so much._ Will take all the advice given here. I grew up listening to Kurt Weill, which probably helps. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/8 "2014-09-26T03:56:06Z")
I love a lot of the other songs on that album- Time, Singapore, Tango 'Til They’re Sore, Jockey Full of Bourbon. So much great writing there. But for whatever reason the combination of delicate music and overwrought performance on that song doesn’t work for me. I think I’ll give Rain Dogs another listen tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/9 "2014-09-26T04:38:26Z")
_Small Change_, _Blue Valentine_ and _Heartattack and Vine_ are all from 1976 to 1980, and are all pretty much straightforward, unexperimental bluesy jazz. [Step Right Up](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdqh0GsXMII), [Christmas Card From a Hooker In Minneapolis](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxVo5mjK4eg) and [On The Nickel](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8055IqijQzo) are probably my favourites from each album, but there is so much to choose from with him. [What’s He Building?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAkZT_4vL_Y) might just be my all time favourite Tom Waits song, and it’s pretty out there. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/10 "2014-09-26T04:41:27Z")
The one good thing about Tom Waits[sup]1[/sup] is that his vocal range is low enough that I can sing along (which I enjoy[sup]2[/sup]) without having to strangle myself with my own vocal cords. [sup]1[/sup] Other than his superb melodies, lyrics and arrangements, that is. [sup]2[/sup] No one else in earshot does, but I do. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/11 "2014-09-26T12:22:26Z")
Check out his album _Alice_, or at the very least, the title track. It’s Tom Waits at his most achingly beautiful – allmusic [has a really evocative description](http://www.allmusic.com/album/alice-mw0000659284) of it. (It was also written as a soundtrack for a play about Lewis Carroll’s obsession with Alice Liddell.) ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/12 "2014-09-26T12:28:45Z")
Missed the edit window – I forgot about youtube 🙂 Alice – [Alice - Tom Waits - YouTube](http://youtu.be/aEj-mrwwaxo) Fish & Bird – [Tom Waits - Fish & Bird - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s44LKiMT87Q) Lost in the Harbor – [Tom Waits - Lost in the Harbour - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyZ15KgUTRA) No One Knows I’m Gone – [Tom Waits - No One Knows I'm Gone - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMrqXg4-HDE) Poor Edward – [Tom Waits - Poor Edward - YouTube](http://youtu.be/tdk4F7yqvZI) Watch Her Disappear – [Tom Waits - Watch Her Disappear - YouTube](http://youtu.be/n6EjeVTY1z8) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/13 "2014-09-26T12:46:44Z")
…I was just going to mention [Alice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEj-mrwwaxo&list=PLA89C47B14A45CDF0). Have a listen to [Emotional Weather Report](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYA1qZ2lZOY)[The Piano Has Been Drinking](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPPtrqvHGEg) ,and, [Yesterday Is Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dnv5L59eSo). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/14 "2014-09-26T13:45:14Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > _jawdrop_ I read this just as I am listening to it for the third time in a row, because _I love it so much._ > [@Marley23](#): > > I think I’ll give Rain Dogs another listen tomorrow. I did, and you were right. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/15 "2014-09-26T13:49:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I did, and you were right. \<3 There are lots of things that repulse me on first contact, that I love on the second. Man, is “Singapore” the song that Kurt Weill _wishes_ he could have written, or what? ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/16 "2014-09-26T14:05:58Z")
Bawlers, the 2nd album in Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards is mostly slower, prettier songs. Bend down the branches: [Tom Waits - Bend Down The Branches - Orphans (Bawlers) - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHdnBc2EP6w) Take care of all of my Children: [Tom Waits-Take Care of all my Children - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-XtfrjvZrs) Down there by the train: [Tom Waits - Down There By The Train. - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxIG2msJ7ow) ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/17 "2014-09-26T14:38:25Z")
This thread got me thinking, so I just ordered Small Change and Blue Valentine on vinyl. I’m trying to decide on the proper drink to christen these with. ---
**Author:** ![alted315](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cc9497/32.png) [@alted315](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alted315)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/18 "2014-09-26T14:41:08Z")
My fav’s although obvious are , I hope I don’t fall in love with you, Ol’ 55 & for laughs, BIG IN JAPAN also there’s one dad I can’t remember the name but the chorus goes cookin’ up a phillipeeno (sp) box spring hog ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/19 "2014-09-26T14:43:40Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > This thread got me thinking, so I just ordered Small Change and Blue Valentine on vinyl. > I’m trying to decide on the proper drink to christen these with. From what little I’ve listened to, I’d go with the rawest, cheapest whiskey I could find. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590/20 "2014-09-26T14:45:44Z")
> [@alted315](#): > > also there’s one dad I can’t remember the name but the chorus goes cookin’ up a phillipeeno (sp) box spring hog “Filipino Box Spring Hog” from _Mule Variations._ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tom-waits/699590.md?page=2)