Born On This Day

Tom Waits


 I recently saw the Edward Hopper exhibit at the Whitney in NYC. I love Hopper. As I found myself transported into 
Early Sunday Morning, I seemed to be doing so to a Tom Waits soundtrack. I later realized, over the course of twenty five years of listening to Tom (after all that time, I don't think he'd mind me calling him Tom) I would frequently think of his music while looking at art. Be it Hopper, or Pollock, or even and not to any lesser extent, Cassius Coolidge. 

Edward Hopper  Early Sunday Morning

Jackson Pollock  Number 31, 1950

Cassius Coolidge  A Friend In Need

Tom's music is incredibly visual. Listening to it can transport you into some sort of film adaptation of a Steinbeck novel directed by Fellini. With his lyrics he can distill the entire range of human emotion in a single line. From his simplest love songs and narratives evoking wind blown hobo jungles, to his more surreal slices of the human carnival–complete with tightrope walkers and blind chihuahuas–he can stop you dead in your tearful train tracks. Or even your trainful tear tracks.


Tom's music moves me. Ever since first hearing Heart of Saturday Night I needed more. I couldn't wait to see how he'd evolve–and as I indeed would myself–I happened on a soundtrack for my life.  


From barroom lothario to circus announcer, Tom has created an entire world of possibilities. A world where misfits rule and the broken hearted hope. What more can any artist hope for?