Tom Waits (lyrics, singer, blues, genre, albums)

SATCHMO · 08-24-2005, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

If i wasn't late for work I'd erupt all over this thread .

FINALLY. Where have you been?

TheBig3 · 08-24-2005, 03:50 PM

I don't usually tread in certain forums, and general is one of them, same witih lounge and punk.

Tom Waits is, to me, the greatest musician that has ever lived. I first discovered him from a GQ article that did a review on him because of his release of Alice/Blood Money. They had a sidebar with some of his lyrics and "The captain is a one armed dwarf, he's throwing dice along the wharf, in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king" from Rain Dog's Singapore caught my eye.

I downloaded whatever I could and the first song I ever heard was "House where nobody lives" off Mule Variations and after my fifth listen, I decided I'd never heard anything quite this good and decided to buy a CD. Considering that MV was also nominated for a Grammy, I decided to pick it up. I'd never heard anything like Fillapino Box Spring Hog, but it spoke to me 1000 diffrent ways.

How could a musician that stood for everything rustic, minimalist, and turn of the centruy have, not only 12 instruments on a single track, but have one of them be the turntables? I would find out an entire CD catalouge later; because he wanted to, and he liked how it sounds.

Tom Waits music doesn't speak to me simply as a musical peice of genius. Its a personal philosophy. He's done what he's wanted for nearly his entire career and he's never tried to appeal to the masses. In his 60's, he's still got a rabid fan base that other artists would die for. He's name dropped so often by musicians as soemone who is an object of admiration uet he never gets the credit he deserves. Everytime Rolling Stone does a 100 greatest artists ever, I get 50 artists who are trash, and never Tom Waits. During thier 500 greatest CD's ever he landed 3 spots and I was still pissed.

He's a great musician, writer, and singer. The latter takes awhile to get used to, but like an aquiered taste, you can't explain why no one else could ever come close.

To those who said they wanted to have sex with his voice, be cautious, sex with a voice like that will take off 7 layers of skin. But Tom Waits has always been raw and full of emotion, so maybe I want to have sex with it to.

If anyone wants some track to check out, let me know what you listen to and I'll try and engineer a playlist to get you into him.

Fenixpunk · 08-24-2005, 04:09 PM

SATCHMO · 08-24-2005, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

He's a great musician, writer, and singer..

Let's not forget composer, actor, and playwrite. His plays and operas completely sell out in Europe, but they continue to be one of those things the US just "doesn't get".

TheBig3 · 08-25-2005, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

Let's not forget composer, actor, and playwrite. His plays and operas completely sell out in Europe, but they continue to be one of those things the US just "doesn't get".

Careful witha statement like that, you imply much more than you mean to.

TheBig3 · 08-25-2005, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenixpunk

also did songs for over 50 movies (one of my favorites Earth Died Screaming is on the movie Twelve Monkeys, which is an awesome flick) and the song Goin Out West that Hookers mentioned is on the Fight Club soundtrack.

One of the craziest places I've seen his songs show up was in that CGI Movie "Robots". When they discover theres a secret factory scraping old robots they play "underground" from Swordfish Trombones.

TheBig3 · 01-22-2006, 12:31 AM

I'm going to resurrect this because the last post was a year ago and theres alot of new people there.

Tom Waits albums are just massive for me, and in january I'll listen to a given 4 tracks on an album and calim their my favorite, but August I'm listening to 4 track off the same album I never cared for before (or noticed) and absolutly love them.

It's not secret that he's my favorite artist/musician ever, but my adoration will stretch my vocabulary to the break point.

I've learned alot from Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, they have a pattern and they are methodical. I can only love Tom Waits, because he is burning passion, and there is no method to what he creates, he just is, and I guess if I can take anything away from that, its that I should throw away what I learned from Simon and Dylan and just burn as myself until my flame is extinguished.

Croog · 01-27-2006, 03:30 PM

Tom Waits was great on Primus' Tommy The Cat.

You can take the enamel off your teeth with his voice!

mosesandtherubberducky · 02-01-2006, 08:04 PM

I know nothing of him but would like to give him a listen. So...could someone suggest a couple of songs or an album to hunt down and hear?

cardboard adolescent · 02-01-2006, 08:19 PM

Clap Hands
Singapore
Cemetary Polka
Rain Dogs
Earth Died Screaming

personal favorites as of right now.

08-24-2005, 03:50 PM	#32 (permalink)
TheBig3 killedmyraindog Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 11,172	I don't usually tread in certain forums, and general is one of them, same witih lounge and punk. Tom Waits is, to me, the greatest musician that has ever lived. I first discovered him from a GQ article that did a review on him because of his release of Alice/Blood Money. They had a sidebar with some of his lyrics and "The captain is a one armed dwarf, he's throwing dice along the wharf, in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king" from Rain Dog's Singapore caught my eye. I downloaded whatever I could and the first song I ever heard was "House where nobody lives" off Mule Variations and after my fifth listen, I decided I'd never heard anything quite this good and decided to buy a CD. Considering that MV was also nominated for a Grammy, I decided to pick it up. I'd never heard anything like Fillapino Box Spring Hog, but it spoke to me 1000 diffrent ways. How could a musician that stood for everything rustic, minimalist, and turn of the centruy have, not only 12 instruments on a single track, but have one of them be the turntables? I would find out an entire CD catalouge later; because he wanted to, and he liked how it sounds. Tom Waits music doesn't speak to me simply as a musical peice of genius. Its a personal philosophy. He's done what he's wanted for nearly his entire career and he's never tried to appeal to the masses. In his 60's, he's still got a rabid fan base that other artists would die for. He's name dropped so often by musicians as soemone who is an object of admiration uet he never gets the credit he deserves. Everytime Rolling Stone does a 100 greatest artists ever, I get 50 artists who are trash, and never Tom Waits. During thier 500 greatest CD's ever he landed 3 spots and I was still pissed. He's a great musician, writer, and singer. The latter takes awhile to get used to, but like an aquiered taste, you can't explain why no one else could ever come close. To those who said they wanted to have sex with his voice, be cautious, sex with a voice like that will take off 7 layers of skin. But Tom Waits has always been raw and full of emotion, so maybe I want to have sex with it to. If anyone wants some track to check out, let me know what you listen to and I'll try and engineer a playlist to get you into him. __________________ I've moved to a new address

08-24-2005, 04:09 PM	#33 (permalink)
Fenixpunk The Erroneous Hoodlum Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: West Side Phoenix Posts: 2,057	__________________ This message has been approved by Shawn Erroneous - The Declaimed

01-22-2006, 12:31 AM	#37 (permalink)
TheBig3 killedmyraindog Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 11,172	I'm going to resurrect this because the last post was a year ago and theres alot of new people there. Tom Waits albums are just massive for me, and in january I'll listen to a given 4 tracks on an album and calim their my favorite, but August I'm listening to 4 track off the same album I never cared for before (or noticed) and absolutly love them. It's not secret that he's my favorite artist/musician ever, but my adoration will stretch my vocabulary to the break point. I've learned alot from Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, they have a pattern and they are methodical. I can only love Tom Waits, because he is burning passion, and there is no method to what he creates, he just is, and I guess if I can take anything away from that, its that I should throw away what I learned from Simon and Dylan and just burn as myself until my flame is extinguished. __________________ I've moved to a new address

02-01-2006, 08:04 PM	#39 (permalink)
mosesandtherubberducky butt say x Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: so i read the question as "Where YOU live" which was kinda funny instead of "Where you live" Posts: 1,649	I know nothing of him but would like to give him a listen. So...could someone suggest a couple of songs or an album to hunt down and hear? __________________ Can I have a youtube video for a sig? There's a thing that says "Wrap [YOUTUBE] tags around selected text"

01-27-2006, 03:30 PM	#38 (permalink)
Croog Groupie Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Chester, UK. Posts: 4	Tom Waits was great on Primus' Tommy The Cat. You can take the enamel off your teeth with his voice!

02-01-2006, 08:19 PM	#40 (permalink)
cardboard adolescent ;) Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: CA Posts: 3,503	Clap Hands Singapore Cemetary Polka Rain Dogs Earth Died Screaming personal favorites as of right now.