TOM WAITS: BAD AS ME (AUDIO)

Listen to the title track from Tom Waits’ upcoming album "Bad As Me," due in stores on Oct. 25. on limited edition deluxe CD, CD, and LP.

Via Tom Waits.com: The disc is Waits’ first studio album of all new music in seven years and refines the music that has come before and signals a new direction. Waits, in possibly the finest voice of his career, worked with a veteran team of gifted musicians and longtime co-writer/producer Kathleen Brennan. From the opening horn-fueled chug of “Chicago,” to the closing barroom chorale of “New Year’s Eve,” "Bad As Me" displays the full career range of Waits’ songwriting, from beautiful ballads like “Last Leaf,” to the avant cinematic soundscape of “Hell Broke Luce,” a battlefront dispatch.

On tracks like “Talking at the Same Time,” Waits shows off a supple falsetto, while on blues burners like “Raised Right Men” and the gospel tinged “Satisfied” he spits, stutters and howls. Like a good boxer, these songs are lean and mean, with strong hooks and tight running times. A pervasive sense of players delighting in each other’s musical company brings a feeling of loose joy even to the album’s saddest songs.

BAD AS ME

You’re the head on the spear
You’re the nail on the cross
You’re the fly in my beer
You’re the key that got lost
You’re the letter from Jesus on the bathroom wall
You’re mother superior in only a bra
You’re the same kind of bad as me

I’m the hat on the bed
I’m the coffee instead
The fish or cut bait
I’m the detective up late
I’m the blood on the floor
The thunder and the roar
The boat that won’t sink
I just won’t sleep a wink
You’re the same kind of bad as me

No good you say
Well that’s good enough for me

You’re the wreath that caught fire
You’re the preach to the choir
You bite down on the sheet
But your teeth have been wired
You skid in the rain
You’re trying to shift
You’re grinding the gears
You’re trying to shift
And you’re the same kind of bad as me

They told me you were no good
I know you’ll take care of all my needs
You’re the same kind of bad as me

I’m the mattress in the back
I’m the old gunnysack
I’m the one with the gun
Most likely to run
I’m the car in the weeds
If you cut me I’ll bleed
You’re the same kind of bad as me
You’re the same kind of bad as me


Tom Waits - Bad As Me by antirecords

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'TOM WAITS ON TOM WAITS'

Next on my reading list and released about two weeks ago.

Via AMAZON: Tom Waits, even with his barnyard growl and urban hipster yawp, may just be what the Daily Telegraph calls him: “the greatest entertainer on Planet Earth.” Over a span of almost four decades, he has transformed his music and persona not to suit the times but his whims. But along with Bob Dylan, he stands as one of the last elder statesmen still capable of putting out music that matters.

Journalists intent upon cracking the code are more likely to come out of a Waits interview with anecdotes about the weather, insects, or medieval medicine. He is, in essence, the teacher we wished we had, dispensing insights such as: “Vocabulary is my main instrument;” “We all like music, but what we really want is for music to like us;” “Anything you absorb you will ultimately secrete;” “Growth is scary, because you’re a seed and you’re in the dark and you don’t know which way is up, and down might take you down further into a darker place . . .;” and “There is no such thing as nonfiction. ...People who really know what happened aren’t talking.  Show More

"Tom Waits on Tom Waits" is a selection of over fifty interviews from the more than five hundred available. Here Waits delivers prose as crafted, poetic, potent, and haunting as the lyrics of his best songs.

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THE CATCHIEST TUNE IN A LONG WHILE...

"The idea of two people vocalizing their relationship through duets...I always thought of it as just a small project between friends. It perfectly captured where I was in my life at the time," says actress Scarlett Johansson of her new album with fellow Jerseyan Pete Yorn entitled "Break Up."

We can forgive the actress for her earlier solo effort, "Anywhere I Lay My Head," in which she covered all of Tom Waits tunes. Easy to try, tough to pull off. Waits is Waits after all. Of her debut disc, Rolling Stone said,"she's a faintly goth Marilyn Monroe lost in a sonic fog..." Whatever. Personally, I think she sounds awesome and rarely has she looked better as evidenced in this video below.

Speaking of... This new catchy and infectious single "Relator" from the duet disc "Break Up" was released earlier in the year (the album itself was released in September). The tune is honestly one of the catchiest joints I've heard in a long, long while.

Check out the video for "Relator" and the lyrics below...



Read the lyrics for "Relator" after the jump...

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NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER (video)

I just made this new video/slideshow that most of my Basement brothers and sisters might enjoy. With the help (and glorious sounds) of Tom Waits, this is my ode to the diner lifestyle. Let's face it, we've all been there...

After a night of boozing or fun on the town, we seek out the comfort of the nearest 24 hour joint that serves up "eggs and sausage with a side of toast."

Be sure to take a look at the subjects and faces in the vid - they all have stories to tell and it's primarily why I think it came out pretty good.

Oh -- and extra points if you recognize the celeb in the last shot -- before the Bukowski's Basement logo. (It's an easy one, but a great pic nonetheless and one that I've never seen before of said celeb.) As always, please enjoy...


Find more videos like this on The 6S Social Network

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TOM WAITS READS BUKOWSKI'S 'THE LAUGHING HEART'

It's easy to see how the sensibilities of musician Tom Waits and author Charles Bukowski easily coincide with one another. Here, Waits reads Bukowski's "The Laughing Heart" (posted below)

THE LAUGHING HEART
your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.

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TOM WAITS: HOLD ON

Enjoy this video and lyrics for "Hold On," one of my favorite Tom Waits songs. Chuck full of old school imagery, the tune has a solemn, sad energy about it. Please enjoy...



HOLD ON
They hung a sign up in out town
"if you live it up, you won't
live it down"
So, she left Monte Rio, son
Just like a bullet leaves a gun
With charcoal eyes and Monroe hips
She went and took that California trip
Well, the moon was gold, her
Hair like wind
She said don't look back just
Come on Jim
(Chorus)
Oh you got to
Hold on, Hold on
You got to hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here
You gotta hold on
Well, he gave her a dimestore watch
And a ring made from a spoon
Everyone is looking for someone to blame
But you share my bed, you share my name
Well, go ahead and call the cops
You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops
She said baby, I still love you
Sometimes there's nothin left to do
Oh you got to
Hold on, hold on
You got to hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here, you got to
Just hold on.

Well, God bless your crooked little heart St. Louis got the best of me
I miss your broken-china voice
How I wish you were still here with me
Well, you build it up, you wreck it down
You burn your mansion to the ground
When there's nothing left to keep you here, when
You're falling behind in this
Big blue world
Oh you go to
Hold on, hold on
You got to hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here
You got to hold on
Down by the Riverside motel,
It's 10 below and falling
By a 99 cent store she closed her eyes
And started swaying
But it's so hard to dance that way
When it's cold and there's no music
Well your old hometown is so far away
But, inside your head there's a record
That's playing, a song called
Hold on, hold on
You really got to hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here
And just hold on.

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TOM WAITS ON NPR

Tom Waits is adding an extra stop to his sold-out "Glitter & Doom" summer tour: NPR Music's "Live in Concert" series. NPR Music is the only place to hear a full concert from Waits' tour, which will be available for both free streaming and podcast at www.NPR.org/music.

During the show, recorded at Atlanta's historic Fox Theater on July 5, Waits gives a two-and-a-half hour performance, featuring songs he's never played outside a studio. The 25-track set includes "Hold On," "All the World is Green" and "Hoist That Rag," followed by an encore of "Anywhere I Lay My Head."

Waits is the latest musician to have an entire performance streamed by NPR Music, which frequently webcasts rock, pop and indie concerts as part of its extensive "Live in Concert" series. The series has featured more than 100 events to date.

In March, NPR Music and Member stations traveled to Austin, TX, to live webcast and broadcast 14 concerts from the influential music festival South by Southwest, among them R.E.M., My Morning Jacket, Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver and Yo La Tengo. All SXSW performances are archived at the site. This summer, NPR Music is also webcasting and broadcasting performances from the Newport Folk Festival and JVC Jazz Festival Newport in Rhode Island.

NPR Music launched in November 2007 as a free, comprehensive music discovery destination, featuring content from NPR and 12 NPR Member public radio stations, as well as original-to-NPR Music features such as live performances, studio sessions, interviews, reviews and blogs. Specific sections of the site are dedicated to rock/pop/folk, classical, jazz/blues, world and urban music. The site culls from NPR's and the stations' extensive music archives to present thousands of features; its popular Concert section offers hundreds of regional and national web concerts, with more than 15 new performances added each month. NPR Music also has dozens of original music podcasts.

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MEET DIABLO DIMES...

If there's one contemporary crooner out there that good 'ol Chuck Buk would be all over, we think it just might be Diablo Dimes. Cut from the Tom Waits School of Music, Dimes is Blues, Americana, Ragtime, Boogie Woogie, Dixieland, and Rock n' Roll...all in one.

Self described as "Honkytonk, hooked, hop, hophead heebies, and a full orchestration at a barrelhouse" this dude is the real deal. His approach is sincere, primitive, and nostalgic with a smoky freight train for a voice box, he's an authentic seasoned multi instrumentalist.

In the last few years, Dimes has managed to have his music featured in a myriad of expression. HBO's original series, "Mind of the Married Man". Twice on TLC's "Miami Ink". Six months on the National College Radio Charts, and a featured performance on long time friend and collaborator Chuck E. Weiss' new album, "23 & Stout", on Cooking Vinyl Records. Not to mention, numerous independent films, play productions, and musicals.

He always thrills with company, weather it's the solo carnival like Medicine Show, or with his band, The Bloodhounds. A true original, raw and passionate, with enough charisma to fill a concert hall or... a dirty juke joint brawl. Ya' won't be disappointed. Most recently, Dimes has self released the full lenghth, "Rainin' Wine On Sunday", and is currently recording a follow up.

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'EGGS AND SAUSAGE' - TOM WAITS VIDEO

Let's all just take a breather from all this serious stuff on the site and just chill as we listen to this gorgeous ditty about diner culture. Grab a shot, a coffee, whatever your poison and dig the vibe of the sheer cool of vintage Tom Waits, circa 1976 from "The Mike Douglas Show." P.S., stick around for the hilarious interview afterwards... Vinatge Waits, for sure...

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