Tom Waits is one of the best songwriters of the last 30 years. Here are 10 of the best songs he’s ever written, complete with the best line of lyrics from each one.
1. Spare Parts I – Tom Waits rails like a beat poet over a tight jazz combo on this track from Nighthawks at the Diner. It’s incredible the way each line builds a mood, with a clever saxophone player providing the appropriate accents.
Best lyric: “It’s colder than a gut shot bitch wolf dog with 9 sucking pups pullin’ a 4 trap up a hill in the dead of winter in the middle of a snowstorm with a mouth full of porcupine quills.”
2. Poor Edward – For straight-out scare factor, I’m not sure if any song tops Poor Edward, where Waits tells the story of a boy born with an evil face on the back of his head, culminating in the boy’s suicide. It’s framed by dark strings, and Waits sounds truly hellish as he carefully sings each word. One of the most unique tracks in his catalog.
Best lyric: “Some still believe he was freed from her/But I knew her too well/I say she drove him to suicide/And took Poor Edward to hell.”
3. The Heart of Saturday Night – Waits does wistful beautifully, as The Heart of Saturday Night shows us. This is pretty traditional for a Waits tune, but don’t let that stop you from seeing its incredible…well, heart, I guess.
Best lyric: “Makes it kind of quiver down in the core / ‘Cause you’re dreamin’ of them Saturdays that came before / And now you’re stumblin’ / You’re stumblin’ onto the heart of Saturday night.”
4. Alice – This love song written to Alice of Alice In Wonderland is sad, creepy, and well-rounded. Waits has written hundreds of love songs, but this one is practically transcendental poetry.
Best lyric: “I went skating on your name/And by tracing it twice/I fell through the ice/of Alice.”
5. Whistling Past The Graveyard – Waits’ looming, raucous monster of a voice comes through on this song off of Blue Valentine with tremendous power and energy. He sounds like a dog let off his leash as he barks vicious bragging lyrics, like some sort of early Bo Diddley corrupted by Satan. Play this track for anyone who thinks that Tom Waits can’t rock as well as anyone else–with just a saxophone, piano, bass, and drum backing. Let’s see Mick Jagger do that.
Best lyric: “Sometimes I kill myself a jackal/Suck out all the blood/Steal myself a station wagon, drive into the mud”
6. Day After Tomorrow – Jon Stewart called this his favorite Waits song, and it’s no wonder. Tom Waits manages to make a song that shows the stark realities of war from the view of a solitary, lonely soldier, without being political and without condemning anyone. It’s a song that reminds us what war is, and there aren’t a whole lot of pieces of art that can do that. Easily one of Waits’ best stories and characters.
Best lyric: “What I’m trying to say/Is don’t they pray/to the same God that we do?/Tell me how does God choose/Whose prayers does he refuse?”
7. Step Right Up – This is Waits’ assault on advertising, and ironically Doritos tried to buy this song for one of their commercials. When Waits refused, Doritos hired a Waits-sound-alike to do the job, so Waits sued them and won. It’s hard to know why Doritos thought that they could get this of all Tom Waits songs, as it’s specifically about the evils of ads, but in any case, the lawsuit only serves to highlight Waits’ integrity.
8. Big Joe and Phantom 309 – While this song wasn’t written by Waits, his performance is fascinating. He simply tells the story, lurching and repeating lyrics with incredible passion, and throwing in some good drunken humor for good measure.
Best lyric: “I smoked up all his Viceroys as we rolled along , he pushed her ahead with 10 forward gears, and man that dashboard was lit like the old
Madam La Rue pinball, a serious semi truck.”
9. Lie to Me – Waits shouts each line with brutal force, not letting up for the short duration of the track as a wicked guitar pound out a simple blues riff. Vital, harsh stuff from Waits’ massive Orphans album.
Best lyric: “I know you got yourself a jockey at home / Let me be your rider ’til your real man comes.”
10. Christmas Card from a Hooker – Unquestionably Waits’ best story song, Christmas Card from a Hooker isn’t as silly as its title implies, and it’s one of the most desperate, lonely, funny songs ever written. Truly Waits at his best.
Best lyric: “I wish we had all the money we used to spend on dope / I’d buy me a used car lot / But I wouldn’t sell any of them / Just drive a different car every day depending on how I feel.”
Did I miss one? Let me know by posting a comment below.
