I heard a Tom Waits song on the radio the other day. It is called Step Right Up. In the song, Waits strings together every carnival pitch line, every tv pitch line, every used car salesman line that you’ve ever heard over a pulsating bass line accented with sax riffs. It is great.
I like Tom Waits. He plays characters when he sings a song. His singing voice is very intentionally gravelly. He sings in tune but his tone has lots of texture. It is so rough that it inspires concern that he will hurt himself singing that way.
He has had a second career as an actor. He typically plays the same kind of gritty character that he sings about in his songs. I listened to an interview with him at SIU in Carbondale, Illinois. He talks about the character that he attempts to portray and how he has become the character to some degree.
Sweet dreams, don’t forget to tell the ones you love that you love them, and most important of all, be kind.