Tom Waits was with me during some of my darkest moments. His music was the only consolation I had. Maybe not the kind of guy you'd listen to in your happiest moods, but how often are we truly happy? The best, always.
Stay strong friends! I loved reading both the original comment and responses. I can't say that I feel exactly the same way personally, but his music has gradually become more healing for me and touches me deeply. Springsteen and Hank Jr. too.
In the mid 70's I was lucky enough to see him in all his glory at a room inside a Holiday Inn. I couldn't believe the size of the room, so small for such a huge man.
I can't think of the best words to describe Tom Waits. So many superlatives fit him. I simply tell my friends about him and suggest that they check him out on RUclips. He was unknown to me until about mid-2007 when I heard his ending track for the movie "American Hearts". The song was "I'll Never Let Go of Your Hand" and I played it over and over after the movie ended (I had recorded the movie as I watched it). I began to seek out Tom Waits and found all these treasures on RUclips.
Oneof the best performers,songwriters,musicians of his generation.Waits said in an old Blues Review interview,"I was born the day after Leadbelly died.I kinda like to think we passed each other in the hall."
Paul LaBelle/Decorated, Disabled Vietnam Vet... Tom Waits..One ☝️ of the Funkiest Human beings alive‼️.. writes really Great Songs that other Great Muscians cover...and a musical voice that those that cover his songs, smile 😃 and think 🤔... We can do it Our Way‼️... My all time favorite song.... Jersey Girl ‼️‼️ 😎 NewYorkPaul
Thank God he got in to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. He is a true genius, and people who can't think outside the box will never ever get a national treasure like Tom Waits..
I love his Music. I am 37 and i feel a lot like living tooo late. Even if i love what he do today.... but... man. These old Concerts.....man. Not this one in the 90´s. i mean that 70´s stuff. I am meltin when i hear the 70´s concerts. But, it is like it is. and i am happy he is still alive and touring. My wish is to meet him one day- i really wish that. even if i am think i would be too shy to say a word... he´s a genius!
No other voice I have heard conveys so much heart and soul, and pain. When he sings one of these ballads, tears just overflow my heart and fall from my eyes right onto my face. The instrumentation he uses to back his voice is brilliant.
Behind your comments 100%. Closing time was brilliant! I saw him do it back in the day. Those songs made a direct connection to my heart. Beautiful word images of the night, its inhabitants and love, all tangled in reality.
Genius. That's all that can be said..that needs to be said...absolute Genius! The whole album this is on is beyond classic; its fucking legendary. I love playing this song & "I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You" back to back..literally makes me cry. :-). Tom Waits is good drinking music. I mean that as a compliment :-).
my dad is the exact same except im 17 and my time hearing tom only started 1 to 1 and a half decades ago but ever since i think of my dad when i play him
I like this wonderful video. Tom Waits is amazing. He has an extraordinary abiity to move me when he sings this song. I relate to it incredibly and love the Eagles cover of it as well. I agree with tgulino87 completely.
I've always liked that I first heard the song by The Eagles when it first got radio play, then years later discovered Tom Waits... thought he was covering their tune, then was delighted to learn that he wrote it. Such a brilliant rain dog he is!
This is a perfect example of how he lost his voice! I love Tom and his style , but just for a second at the beginning you can hear his real voice. I wish he could have just sung with his real voice so we could all have Tom Waits today! I love you Tom--Great stuff!!
This has always been one of my favorite Tom Waits songs and it is really special to hear him sing it now with his true voice. Amazing! Thanks for posting.
so fucking great . his voice almost dead - - and then it shines above us all like a great spirit. I read the story behind it, the car that only got reverse left and driving like that pasadena hw facing all the honking followers, God still is the greatest scriptwriter of all and he speaks through Tom!
In the 1970's when i lived in Boulder, my girlfriend at that time lived in Boulder. At that time when when i listed to this song, i would think about how it described a part of my life at that time. Now when i listen to it, it brings back memories.
Having seen Tom Waits live more than once i can assure you his voice is not put on,i defy anyone to sing like that for 2+ hours and not require reconstructive throat surgery!lol! I think this is a great version because it doesn't chain itself to the recorded version,to me its a gospel tune to be sung with feeling as the mood takes you.He wrote it and like Dylan (who can destroy his own songs)he'll sing it anyway he pleases.
Tom Waits finally was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's about f**kin time. I'm not saying Tom is the best Rocker ever but there is no one else like him. He is one of a kind and we are richer for having him. Keep Rockin Tom, Show them how it's done...
@niallwhite1969 It has always amazed me that someone so young could write such a debut album. How does a 20 year old get the depth and soul to write and perform Martha, amoungst others. God bless him and his kind. To others below, I used to think he couldn't sing as well, like say Dylan or Van the Man etc now I know these peeps are the true singers.
Beautiful video. Tom with his two coffee cups, giant beard on upright bass, voice like he's gargling gravel. I like this version better than the release. Cheers, mate.
You got that right about Rain Dogs. A masterpiece, perfectly conceived by a great musician and artist. For all the weirdness and strangeness which he courts and explores, there is great humanity in his work.
you can say you don't like the "egals", you can say you don'tlisten to them,but when you say they "suck" you take yourself out of the argument. They've sold over 50 million records, are still touring and selling out, and millions still spent money to see them. Tom W is a genius, and i'm not that big an Eagles fan, but they certainly don't suck.
fuck the change in the voice - it still got all it takes! if you think it's the devil howling from the grave - anyway he's howling enthousiastically and with a lot of deeply rooted human feeling in his voice
I thought I read someone commented that Tom's voice is fake... for me it is not. It is his voice that is coming out from deep in his heart... that is style and it suits the songs he writes. First time I heard his songs from an old cassette tape in the 80s, it caught my attention. I always listen to his songs and even share them with friends. When I heard Waltzing Matilda from Rod Stewart, it was good, until I heard it from Tom... it was equally good but more feelings were poured out.
I agree - although Ole '55 was the first Waitz song that 'hooked' me while listening to my neighbors stereo about 12 years ago it is much different from my current favorites - 'Mr. Seagle' and 'On the Nickel'.
Tom is my favorite. My will has "Hold on" to be played at my funeral. Therefore, I can say 19 people have no clue the difference between their ass and a hole in the ground..
Yes me too, great memories and deep feelings, listening to the heart of saterdaynight, or burma shave, or invitation to the blues, and so on.... oh yes... such great songs.....
Damn, always grew up understanding it was The Eagles who had written this gem of a song. Now I know who is the original performer and writer of it, I appreciates the song more
Very interesting observation,the players in his band gotta have good instincts and understand the fluidness of where Tom wants to take a song on any given night.He always picks" killer musicians" to work with.
I don't know if there is a bigger complement than to covered by Springsteen, who has arguably written more great music over the last 35 years than anyone. He has enormous respect and admiration for Waits and they've appeared on stage together doing Jersey Girl.
I always wondered what gravely voiced Tom Waits would sound like if he sang material from his first 2 albums, before he fully embraced them bourbon soaked pipes. I was not dissapointed. Sounds different from the version I'm used to hearing but still smazing, and comforting to know he still does his earliest material.
i love tom waits, but his voice here is the dredges... i'm sure even he's glad he made that studio cut while he still had some voice left to do it.... that studio cut to me is still an awesome piece of work and one of the most passionate songs he ever wrote and recorded... right along with heart of saturday nite... just good stuff.....
I love Tom Waits first two albums, but his “voice” is a show. He’s playing a character. This song is perfect proof; he begins the first line singing like the album, and then remembers to go into his “growl”. I’m not sure why he decided to do that, I sure prefer the first two albums from Tom. I think he could’ve been much more successful. But he is a great song writer.
Sounding as you desire is not fake, it's just what artists do. I understand your point. Everyone kept telling him he sounded like Dylan, well that was a dead end, there is only one Dylan, so he changed his sound up to try to do his own thing, it's all good.
there is no way this isn't his real singing voice. he would be destroying his real voice otherwise. if this wasn't his real voice by the end of that song his voice would be shot.
Love this song .. @vincenoir . Know what you meen, i love the old sentimental ballads as well. But The later stuff, rain dogs, black rider etc are so ahead of its time and so Well produced. But he's still up for a ballad of two these days ;)
Tom is really in class all his own, love it when folks find good stuff all by accident! The Eagles covered it, or the other way around, not really sure. but that';s probably Henley/Fry your listening too in the itunes. L8R!
Coincidence you should say this because I bought a copy of Closing time a couple of days ago. I'm pretty sure it's Waits first album, from about 1971. It opens with Ol' 55, which, I agree, the Eagles don't do nearly as well, although I'm sure Tom appreciates the royalties, and then has another fantastic song, "I hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You Great album.
Well, my time went so quickly I went lickety-splickly Out to my old '55 As I pulled away slowly, feeling so holy God knows, I was feeling alive Now the sun's coming up I'm riding with Lady Luck Freeway cars and trucks Stars beginning to fade And I lead the parade Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer Oh, Lord, lemme tell you that the feeling's getting stronger And at six in the morning, gave me no warning I had to be on my way Well there's trucks all a-passing and and the lights all a-flashing I'm on my way home from your place And now the sun's coming up I'm riding with Lady Luck Freeway cars and trucks Stars beginning to fade And I lead the parade Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer Oh, Lord, lemme tell you the feeling's getting stronger And my time went so quickly I went lickety-splickly Out to my old '55 As I pulled away slowly, feeling so holy God knows, I was feeling alive And now the sun's coming up I'm riding with Lady Luck Freeway cars and trucks Freeway cars and trucks Freeway cars and trucks
Tom Waits was with me during some of my darkest moments. His music was the only consolation I had. Maybe not the kind of guy you'd listen to in your happiest moods, but how often are we truly happy? The best, always.
probably no use asking but i hope you're fine 12 years down the line :)
Tom is bringing me through a tunnel at the minute..I can see the light at the end of it but the train has stopped at the wrong station
Stay strong friends! I loved reading both the original comment and responses. I can't say that I feel exactly the same way personally, but his music has gradually become more healing for me and touches me deeply. Springsteen and Hank Jr. too.
Thank you for your comment.
Life goal: to be as cool as Tom Waits, even if only for 10 minutes.
Same!
Who could "not like" this? Seriously. This is one of the greatest versions of the greatest songs ever. Raw. Beautiful. People are idiots.
I loved that he remebered his current voice a few seconds later 😁
Would love to hear him sing like that again just for one song
i still listen to him in 2021 and i'm damn proud of it. love you old guy
Quality has no expiration date...
Easy there, whipper-snapper.
In the mid 70's I was lucky enough to see him in all his glory at a room inside a Holiday Inn. I couldn't believe the size of the room, so small for such a huge man.
My dad saw him in Cleveland in 76! Looks like those were the years !
I can't think of the best words to describe Tom Waits. So many superlatives fit him. I simply tell my friends about him and suggest that they check him out on RUclips. He was unknown to me until about mid-2007 when I heard his ending track for the movie "American Hearts". The song was "I'll Never Let Go of Your Hand" and I played it over and over after the movie ended (I had recorded the movie as I watched it). I began to seek out Tom Waits and found all these treasures on RUclips.
Tom Waits = a diamond that wants to stay coal
Beautifully expressed, Keith. Thanks.
love that. Perfect!
Heretic that line is from black market baby
Keith Charles Dovoric I've never heard of him being described any better than this.
Perfect expression
Oneof the best performers,songwriters,musicians of his generation.Waits said in an old Blues Review interview,"I was born the day after Leadbelly died.I kinda like to think we passed each other in the hall."
lying next to the fireplace. cofee smokes maybe a wiskey if its late and Tom Waits singing...i can stay here for ever
Tom W. is 1 of the coolest western "underground" musicens ever, that I'm so lucky to know about..
Paul LaBelle/Decorated, Disabled Vietnam Vet...
Tom Waits..One ☝️ of the
Funkiest Human beings alive‼️.. writes really Great
Songs that other Great Muscians cover...and a musical voice that those that cover his songs, smile 😃 and think 🤔... We can do it Our Way‼️... My all time favorite song.... Jersey Girl ‼️‼️ 😎 NewYorkPaul
Thank God he got in to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. He is a true genius, and people who can't think outside the box will never ever get a national treasure like Tom Waits..
I love his Music. I am 37 and i feel a lot like living tooo late. Even if i love what he do today.... but... man. These old Concerts.....man. Not this one in the 90´s. i mean that 70´s stuff. I am meltin when i hear the 70´s concerts.
But, it is like it is. and i am happy he is still alive and touring. My wish is to meet him one day- i really wish that. even if i am think i would be too shy to say a word... he´s a genius!
It always amazes me that he's been singing like that for years and his vocal chords haven't disintegrated.
Amazing performance, he really does add a lot of emotion with his unique gravely voice which really adds a lot of flavour to his songs ❤️
I love this. Thank you for sharing, Chelsea.
No other voice I have heard conveys so much heart and soul, and pain. When he sings one of these ballads, tears just overflow my heart and fall from my eyes right onto my face. The instrumentation he uses to back his voice is brilliant.
Love this song...I also love the eagles cover; Randy´s back vocal harmonies were outstanding..
Behind your comments 100%. Closing time was brilliant! I saw him do it back in the day. Those songs made a direct connection to my heart. Beautiful word images of the night, its inhabitants and love, all tangled in reality.
god i love this song!!!!!
Listening and thonking of my cousin, Jerry. I miss him.
Caught Tom for 2 out of 3 nights in Boston on this tour. The last night I sat just feet from his piano for final encore of "Take It With Me". nuf ced.
One of the most beautiful videos on youtube - thank you
True. Even if his voice is completely different now, still we can feel his soul inside this song!
One of the all time greats. So much soul.
I Love Tom ! He's one of America's greatest songwriters. !!! Very unappreciated ! not too mention unknown
Genius. That's all that can be said..that needs to be said...absolute Genius! The whole album this is on is beyond classic; its fucking legendary. I love playing this song & "I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You" back to back..literally makes me cry. :-). Tom Waits is good drinking music. I mean that as a compliment :-).
my dad is the exact same except im 17 and my time hearing tom only started 1 to 1 and a half decades ago but ever since i think of my dad when i play him
I like this wonderful video. Tom Waits is amazing. He has an extraordinary abiity to move me when he sings this song. I relate to it incredibly and love the Eagles cover of it as well. I agree with tgulino87 completely.
I've always liked that I first heard the song by The Eagles when it first got radio play, then years later discovered Tom Waits... thought he was covering their tune, then was delighted to learn that he wrote it.
Such a brilliant rain dog he is!
This is a perfect example of how he lost his voice! I love Tom and his style , but just for a second at the beginning you can hear his real voice.
I wish he could have just sung with his real voice so we could all have Tom Waits today! I love you Tom--Great stuff!!
ruclips.net/video/hw7nwOsWA4Y/видео.html
He growls more now he's older.
This has always been one of my favorite Tom Waits songs and it is really special to hear him sing it now with his true voice. Amazing! Thanks for posting.
This guys voice has some real character to it! I like singers that have unique voices that are recognizable.
a true original...one of the great artists of our time
so fucking great . his voice almost dead - - and then it shines above us all like a great spirit. I read the story behind it, the car that only got reverse left and driving like that pasadena hw facing all the honking followers, God still is the greatest scriptwriter of all and he speaks through Tom!
In the 1970's when i lived in Boulder, my girlfriend at that time lived in Boulder. At that time when when i listed to this song, i would think about how it described a part of my life at that time. Now when i listen to it, it brings back memories.
Having seen Tom Waits live more than once i can assure you his voice is not put on,i defy anyone to sing like that for 2+ hours and not require reconstructive throat surgery!lol!
I think this is a great version because it doesn't chain itself to the recorded version,to me its a gospel tune to be sung with feeling as the mood takes you.He wrote it and like Dylan (who can destroy his own songs)he'll sing it anyway he pleases.
I heard him do this maybe 25 years ago. It's still one of my few 5 Star songs. This and; "I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You."
...a soul song, right there. Exquisite...
Honest old school music, just fabulous.....
Nothing old this is timeless.
Tom Waits finally was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's about f**kin time. I'm not saying Tom is the best Rocker ever but there is no one else like him. He is one of a kind and we are richer for having him. Keep Rockin Tom, Show them how it's done...
It is impossible that this music disappears throughout the life in my life
Thanks for posting this, it's really wonderful.
Preach it! Just enjoy or turn it off. I completely agree with you. Tom's not for everyone, but I certainly think he's a great talent.
So good it is to see Waits still playing my favorite!
@niallwhite1969
It has always amazed me that someone so young could write such a debut album.
How does a 20 year old get the depth and soul to write and perform Martha, amoungst others.
God bless him and his kind.
To others below, I used to think he couldn't sing as well, like say Dylan or Van the Man etc now I know these peeps are the true singers.
Love the quality, thank you.
Beautiful video. Tom with his two coffee cups, giant beard on upright bass, voice like he's gargling gravel.
I like this version better than the release. Cheers, mate.
Possibly the coolest man on the planet?
no doubt
Why there's a question mark?
Yeah,why the question mark?
the answer is VERY odvoious.
You got that right about Rain Dogs. A masterpiece, perfectly conceived by a great musician and artist. For all the weirdness and strangeness which he courts and explores, there is great humanity in his work.
of my top 2 musicians of all time!
the legend! the best lp!
O melhor de todos!!
学生時代、このCD聴いてたなぁ。渋くてカッコいいよね！
Outstanding !!!
;)
you can say you don't like the "egals", you can say you don'tlisten to them,but when you say they "suck" you take yourself out of the argument. They've sold over 50 million records, are still touring and selling out, and millions still spent money to see them. Tom W is a genius, and i'm not that big an Eagles fan, but they certainly don't suck.
fuck the change in the voice - it still got all it takes! if you think it's the devil howling from the grave - anyway he's howling enthousiastically and with a lot of deeply rooted human feeling in his voice
I thought I read someone commented that Tom's voice is fake... for me it is not. It is his voice that is coming out from deep in his heart... that is style and it suits the songs he writes. First time I heard his songs from an old cassette tape in the 80s, it caught my attention. I always listen to his songs and even share them with friends. When I heard Waltzing Matilda from Rod Stewart, it was good, until I heard it from Tom... it was equally good but more feelings were poured out.
I agree - although Ole '55 was the first Waitz song that 'hooked' me while listening to my neighbors stereo about 12 years ago it is much different from my current favorites - 'Mr. Seagle' and 'On the Nickel'.
fantastic...
it's so beautiful i cry every time i listen it!!! Bravo the Eagles and merci Mr Wait!!!
59 is no0t old!!!!!!!!!!!! hell im 50 and ive seen things some never will see...
Tom is my favorite. My will has "Hold on" to be played at my funeral. Therefore, I can say 19 people have no clue the difference between their ass and a hole in the ground..
What a song🥃🥃
Yes me too, great memories and deep feelings, listening to the heart of saterdaynight, or burma shave, or invitation to the blues, and so on....
oh yes... such great songs.....
Long live Tom Waits
beautiful
Closing Time changed my life
you can feel the sun's coming up XXXXXXXX
I want that song in my funeral.
Thanks man! I thought it was cool too. Tom Waits is great! I totally agree, both versions/styles are beautiful
Damn, always grew up understanding it was The Eagles who had written this gem of a song. Now I know who is the original performer and writer of it, I appreciates the song more
Very interesting observation,the players in his band gotta have good instincts and understand the fluidness of where Tom wants to take a song on any given night.He always picks" killer musicians" to work with.
I don't know if there is a bigger complement than to covered by Springsteen, who has arguably written more great music over the last 35 years than anyone. He has enormous respect and admiration for Waits and they've appeared on stage together doing Jersey Girl.
perfection.
yes gotta love a quote from the dude
I always wondered what gravely voiced Tom Waits would sound like if he sang material from his first 2 albums, before he fully embraced them bourbon soaked pipes. I was not dissapointed. Sounds different from the version I'm used to hearing but still smazing, and comforting to know he still does his earliest material.
R.I.P Brodie Lee
なんて素晴らしいんだトム！
Version on Closing Time, please. Love his real voice.
amazing. One of his (many) great songs. The man is so talented, it's not even funny.
ur right! you can hear him use the voice on the album in the first couple of words and then he goes into "Tom Waits" voice! cool
i love tom waits, but his voice here is the dredges... i'm sure even he's glad he made that studio cut while he still had some voice left to do it.... that studio cut to me is still an awesome piece of work and one of the most passionate songs he ever wrote and recorded... right along with heart of saturday nite... just good stuff.....
何も言うことありません。感動！
Tom Waits makes Tom Waits sound like Tom Waits.
i would love to see the whole show
GREAT !
I love Tom Waits first two albums, but his “voice” is a show. He’s playing a character. This song is perfect proof; he begins the first line singing like the album, and then remembers to go into his “growl”. I’m not sure why he decided to do that, I sure prefer the first two albums from Tom. I think he could’ve been much more successful. But he is a great song writer.
Sounding as you desire is not fake, it's just what artists do. I understand your point. Everyone kept telling him he sounded like Dylan, well that was a dead end, there is only one Dylan, so he changed his sound up to try to do his own thing, it's all good.
there is no way this isn't his real singing voice. he would be destroying his real voice otherwise. if this wasn't his real voice by the end of that song his voice would be shot.
The quintessential tortured genius.
Waits is the Van Gogh of music.
It is Tom on the studio version. He didn't start using the gravelly voice you're familiar with until about his 4th or 5th album.
good point IMO for me it was neil young but i know what yer sayin'. waits is incredible. thanks for posting ~cg5
Love this song .. @vincenoir . Know what you meen, i love the old sentimental ballads as well. But The later stuff, rain dogs, black rider etc are so ahead of its time and so Well produced. But he's still up for a ballad of two these days ;)
Tom is really in class all his own, love it when folks find good stuff all by accident!
The Eagles covered it, or the other way around, not really sure. but that';s probably Henley/Fry your listening too in the itunes.
L8R!
Eagles covered it. This was written by Tom in 1973, the eagles covered it in 1974
This is like Tom Waits covering himself. Brilliant.
Oh, this is Blues. Think: "Louis Armstrong"
with twice the gravel in the voice.
BTW, happy 60th, Tom.
Maestro...!!!
Perfect.
This man makes you sound like a robot.
Coincidence you should say this because I bought a copy of Closing time a couple of days ago. I'm pretty sure it's Waits first album, from about 1971. It opens with Ol' 55, which, I agree, the Eagles don't do nearly as well, although I'm sure Tom appreciates the royalties, and then has another fantastic song, "I hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You Great album.
Well, my time went so quickly
I went lickety-splickly
Out to my old '55
As I pulled away slowly, feeling so holy
God knows, I was feeling alive
Now the sun's coming up
I'm riding with Lady Luck
Freeway cars and trucks
Stars beginning to fade
And I lead the parade
Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer
Oh, Lord, lemme tell you that the feeling's getting stronger
And at six in the morning, gave me no warning
I had to be on my way
Well there's trucks all a-passing and and the lights all a-flashing
I'm on my way home from your place
And now the sun's coming up
I'm riding with Lady Luck
Freeway cars and trucks
Stars beginning to fade
And I lead the parade
Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer
Oh, Lord, lemme tell you the feeling's getting stronger
And my time went so quickly
I went lickety-splickly
Out to my old '55
As I pulled away slowly, feeling so holy
God knows, I was feeling alive
And now the sun's coming up
I'm riding with Lady Luck
Freeway cars and trucks
Freeway cars and trucks
Freeway cars and trucks