Somehow I think it will be best for me to get the fuck out of Dodge and onto the sunny side of the road again. This sadness is not only bad for your mind, it`s also bad for your skin. Indirectly of course since the amount of chocolate I`ve consumed in the last 24 hours is not going too well with my stomach.
Tom Waits was one of those artists I ran into by pure luck. My first contact was when a friend of mine in high school brought “Mule variations” into the class and listened to it during breaks. Since I was sitting next to him, he gave me a taste of it and as all good things I did not like him in the beginning. It was later on, on the faculty that I developed a taste for him.
The two albums that I remember best and still listen to (like today) are Alice and Blood money. They were made as a soundtracks for a theater show/opera and they make me want to see it. Alas, it`s not on stage anymore.
To me it seems that “Blood money” is the brighter side of the duo, although it still falls into the “melanholic” category. Songs like “Misery is the river of the world“, “All the world is green” and “Coney island baby” are the top three from the album. His voice is on one hand soft and melodic and on the other hand harsh and rough. Still, a good combination, as his hoarse voice can be a tad annoying and hard to listen to for a longer period of time. “Alice” has one of the most heart-touching songs I heard in years. “No one knows I`m gone” carries an intense emotional charge and at the same time manages to escape every cliche you usually find in these kinds of lyrics.
But he is more than “just” an artist, as he played in many movies, among them “Coffee and cigarettes” and “Down by law”, both directed by Jim Jarmusch.
For more information, see this, this and this (the links are at the bottom..kinda hard to see) site.
No one knows I`m gone (by Tom Waits)
Hell above and Heaven below
All the trees are gone
The rain made such a lovely sound
To those who are six feet under ground
The leaves will bury every year
And no one knows I?m gone
Live me golden tell me dark
Hide from Graveyard John
The moon is full here every night
And I can bathe here in his light
The leaves will bury every year
And no one knows I?m gone
