Tom Waits - Drunk on the Moon
Played a show last night in East Bay (my last show with the older gents from Cupcake) and talked with this guy Thor Jensen who had played a very great set of raspy, jangly blues-meets-lounge music (he used an empty suitcase as his bass drum, and had a cigar box with tiny, fastened metal plates as his snare). Incredible talent, was a real sight to watch.
Anyways, he covered “Tango ‘Till They’re Sore” by Tom Waits, and I mentioned that I sorta prefer Waits’ ballad-y songs a little more than his stuff that sounds like it came from a trash heap (which, don’t get me wrong, the guy’s mere versatility and excellence across that spectrum of versatility always leaves me awestruck…he can make music with anything). I told him “You Can Never Hold Back Spring” (maybe my favorite Waits song) I thought had a certain tenderness to it that, as a song, makes it nearly impossible to recreate. Just really sweet emotion with none of the usual overbearing sappiness. The piano sounds like the hands are performing a slow dance with one another. It’s a smartly-written love song (how many other love songs can you say that about?).
He smiled a little, paused, and then said: “Oh yeah, I love his ballads too…have you listened to ‘Drunk on the Moon’?”
Well, here I am. And damn, this song is good.
Posted 7 months ago with 0 notes