28 Comments
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Julie Dee's avatar

He is so underrated. Yeah his gravelly voice ain’t for everyone (although it grows the more you hear it) but his descriptions are something else! Amazing writer! Nothing but respect!

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Patris's avatar

I don’t know he’s pretty highly rated in this house - and we can be a tough crowd

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Corie Feiner's avatar

I don't listen to him much anymore, but there were a few years where his music was the sound track for my cocktail waitress Pittsburgh life.

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Julie Dee's avatar

Absolutely. I hear you. He totally evokes a certain era.

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Corie Feiner's avatar

Bad days become good days when I listen to Tom Waits and his carburetor voice wails in a way that makes me feel like someone out there has understood those moments. You know THOSE moments when it just feels shaky and someone is with you to say, Yep. Been there.

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Not My Real Name Either's avatar

The right poem at the right time!!!

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Weston Parker's avatar

His "Waltzing Matilda" was a real revelation for me. I was working under a 1969 Land Rover, dropping out the differential while I had that song on repeat. The sweet smell of 90 weight oil and that voice are forever linked now. Thanks for reminding me what a good poet he was/is.

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Writer Pilgrim by So Elite's avatar

Sounds like you have a poem in this amazing description.

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Weston Parker's avatar

Ha, maybe so.

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Josh Dean's avatar

For once, it's nice to see an artist not blaming others for the obstacles they face. We are our own worst enemies all too often.

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Ken Paul Rosenthal's avatar

I saw filmmaker Werner Herzog in person last week in Berkeley, CA. During the Q&A after his screening, he said, "Cinema and poetry start with a sense of awe. Follow what you are most awestruck with." When I listen to Tom Waits, I feel his awe of the mundane, and am awed by the way he mines the mundane for magic. You can even feel it in his words, without the music. Btw, my favorite Waits records are: Tom Waits The Early Years Vol. 2, Swordfish Trombones, Rain Dogs, Bone Machine, and Mule Variations. It's a shame that the gravelly texture of his voice in the latter third of his extensive oeuvre makes it near impossible to understand his remarkable writing.

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Jeffrey Streeter's avatar

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

"Don't plant your bad days.

They grow into weeks."

That's a life lesson.

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Dollyboy's avatar

Where, when did Waits utter this?

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Poetic Outlaws's avatar

Big Time, 1988

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Writer Pilgrim by So Elite's avatar

Tom Waits… great writing!

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Lucy's avatar

There are no bad days. Best advice ever...(as seen on a mug - of course!)

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Wendy Elizabeth Williams's avatar

Mr. Waits, very good advice. Very difficult to do over and over but it is most worthy to be diving in to the dirt, seeing what lies beneath and digging up the darkness, root by root. That is exactly what I am doing right now, step by muddy step.

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Kerry's avatar

OH My Boom!! Bird against the glass door here- I used to be a teacher and sing Wheels on the Bus or The Barney song - and when I could finally get get in my car ALONE for 55 minutes it was Yell/ singing Rain Dogs and / or Frank's Wild Years - to cleanse my palate - Praise be Sir Tom of Waits!! I genuflect in your general direction- ( totally rip off phrase from Monty Python....

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man of aran's avatar

The inimitable!

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Deni's avatar

One of my heroes...good ole Tom 🤗💜☮️

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David's avatar

'he had a face like roadkill' is a Tom favorite line

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Daniel Trice's avatar

I love his naked urban harshness. No punches pulled on the brutal truth, just $29.00 and an alligator purse.

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