Appropriately enough, Tom Waits is on the cover of the current issue of Southwest Airlines Spirit in-flight magazine.

I won't deny him a good song or two, that would be silly. As an emblem of the "bohemian" world-view and aesthetic that I thoroughly resent, however, he can fuck right off.

I think "skpprn" provides something of a litmus test of Tom Waits appreciation here (and a comically typical reference to his downright messianic status within certain circles):

skpprn wrote:King of Kings.
As good as it gets.
Just sample these lyric excerps:

If there's one thing you can say
About Mankind
There's nothing kind about man
You can drive out nature with a pitch fork
But it always comes roaring back again

Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World
Everybody Row! Everybody Row!

If you think this is somehow great poetry, then Tom Waits is probably (obviously) your man. If you think this is crass and naive, kitchen-sink romanticism with added half-assed allusions to popular culture, then he probably (obviously) isn't.

In my opinion, he trumps a guy like Jim morrison in the Department of Unmerited Pretense.

CRAP.

You know, lyrics don't always do justice without the music behind them


The anti-crap.


Here's a great old school show:
http://www.trashtreasury.com/misc/tom/

Paul Kemp wrote:Here's a great old school show:
http://www.trashtreasury.com/misc/tom/

Thanks alot for posting this. In it lies a great addition to my live Eggs and Sausage collection.

I really only listen to his stuff from the 70's.

An uncompromising Not Crap, with no waffles.

say what you will, i do like this song.

that damned fly wrote:say what you will, i do like this song.

Ahhhhhhhh, that's the song from Fight Club that I dig on. Sweet. Thanks for that.

skatingbasser wrote:

Paul Kemp wrote:Here's a great old school show:
http://www.trashtreasury.com/misc/tom/

Thanks alot for posting this. In it lies a great addition to my live Eggs and Sausage collection.

I really only listen to his stuff from the 70's.

An uncompromising Not Crap, with no waffles.

Yeah, that's one of my favorite bootlegs of his. It's just a little more free-form (read: drunk sounding) than Nighthawks, and it's got some great stories.

Mr Tom will be doing a conference about music and movies next sat here in Buenos Aires. It's free, but should be hard to get tickets to get in.

when i like him, he transcends everything else. "all the world is green" is my favorite recent song by him. saw him live last year; it just strengthened my crush. and his episode of fishing with john made me laugh, even if no one else thought it funny/cute.

I just "got" Tom Waits.

Not Crap.