Tag Archives: Tom Waits

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Song of the Day #6,450: ‘Come On up to the House’ – Tom Waits

Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…

Best Films of 2025
#8. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Writer/director Rian Johnson’s latest Benoit Blanc whodunit is a great example of how streaming dilutes the cinematic experience. While I’m sure a ton of people watched this on Netflix between loading the dishwasher and taking out the trash, it doesn’t have the cultural footprint of a movie that plays for a couple of months in theaters.

Given a proper theatrical release, I bet this movie would have had the same water cooler appeal of the 2019 original. And I bet Glenn Close would have been on her way to that elusive Oscar.

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Song of the Day #6,232: ‘Rain Dogs’ – Tom Waits

The final inductee from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2011 is singer-songwriter Tom Waits. Waits was eligible starting in 1999 and made it in the first year he was nominated.

I have very little familiarity with Waits’ discography, and I can’t say I enjoy listening to the songs I have heard, but I have no issue whatsoever with his inclusion in the Rock Hall. He is an iconic figure and a singular talent, an artist who has crossed and blended genres and influenced a generation of musicians.

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Song of the Day #4,301: ‘In the Neighborhood’ – Tom Waits

The charms of Tom Waits have largely eluded me, though I can’t say I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure them out.

One of Waits’ most celebrated albums, Swordfishtrombones, was released in 1983. It marked a move for Waits from piano and strings toward more obscure and eclectic instrumentation, introducing the old-fashioned circus vibe for which he is now well-known.

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Song of the Day #3,054: ‘Union Square’ – Tom Waits

waitsHere’s my first Tom Waits song since February of 2013, when another track from Rain Dogs popped up as a Random iTunes Weekend selection. As usual, this is the first time I’ve heard a song from that album since that earlier post.

I’ve never paid much attention to Waits, though he’s clearly worthy of it. He’s particularly effective as a poet of the streets, a role Bruce Springsteen rode to much greater heights.

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Song of the Day #2,808: ‘Way Down in the Hole’ – Tom Waits

wire_season_twoOne of the cool things about The Wire is how each season focused in on a particular subset of Baltimore citizens, even as the core cast remained largely the same.

Season One introduced on a special crime task force utilizing the titular wire to build a case against the city’s major drug runners. That group of cops and lawyers form the spine of the whole series. But the smaller universe of characters in that season were a group of “corner boys” caught between their criminal bosses and the police.

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