Tune of the Week: Tom Waits

Tom Waits is a US based singer-songwriter that defies easy categorization. His songs generally tell tales of desperate people in desperate times. Dying, decay and leaving are common themes. The musical style of these songs can range from traditional piano and voice arrangements to jazz combos to industrial noise. If there is anything to be expected from Tom Waits it is the unexpected.

The song above is from one of Waits’ more bizarre albums, 1987’s “Franks Wild Years”. The album is made up of songs from a play created by Waits and his wife, Kathleen Brennan, and produced by Chicago’s esteemed theater company Steppenwolf. Waits takes on many different character and voices throughout the album, as evidenced here by his rough falsetto. Despite the slightly deranged delivery on the official release, this song seems to have been extensively covered, most notably by mainstream jazz vocalist Diana Krall.