Tom Waits for No Man

DW on 13 November, 2009

Some songs have me singing along like a drunk, eyes misting and as passionate as a fool, and these of course are generally ballads. Time by Tom Waits is one of my favourites.

Tom Waits tells some of the best stories in contemporary music, tales of regret, penury, lost love and broken dreams. Lilting pace, acoustic guitar and accordion, and the Brechtian theatrical mask drops to reveal unexpected sincerety and tenderness, an oasis in the middle of an album of cacophonous guitar and cranky lyrics. “The rain sounds like a round of applause.. ” “And the things you can’t remember tell the things you can’t forget that history puts a saint in every dream…” And, what a chorus:

“It’s time, time, time that you love…”

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2 Replies to “Tom Waits for No Man”

  1. mrsthing 13 November, 2009 at 13:20

    Beautiful! He delivers those lines with such deft sensitivity–unexpected from such a gravelly voice.

  2. Leisl 13 November, 2009 at 14:48

    We practically worship at the church of Tom Waits in my home.

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