Tom Waits is probably the least washed up old man you have ever laid your muddied eyes on.. I say eyes because either your ears are filled with misplaced lego and old french fries or you’ve never really listened to his music. Do yourself a favour and listen to his records through the decades, watch the movies he has been in. He’s no Bruce Springsteen (no offence to Bruce), he’s on a different level of creative talent and ingenuity, with an impeccable sense of humour and comic timing, razor sharp insight, as well as being a really nice human who isn’t up his own asshole. An old time poet and storyteller. A dude who breathes in the world as it goes about its business and exhales poems and songs about what he sees, hears, feels, unadorned with the usual fluff many creators inject their work with. And seemingly becoming an absolute legend whilst escaping the tedious world of becoming a Big Deal perhaps by virtue of his art being too difficult to categorize into neat crowd pleasing packages that play well on the radio. Tom is a singing, dancing gift to the world.

Whoo, I had a little rant there.

You may think I’m blindly defending a hero of mine, perhaps I am. I could never do anything else really, as his music changed my life for the better. I have heard many people who have echoed a similar sentiment.

MASSIVE ATTACK, ‘washed UP’?
…or are U saying that about Tom Waits?
Why the personal attack on respected artists?
…
So, I take it U support WW3?
This is a ‘message song’…
don’t shoot the messengers!

Thank you for confirming my theory that the biggest appeal of Tom Waits fandom is how much he bothers people who don’t like Tom Waits.

Who counts as a snowflake these days?