"Last Leaf" From Tom Waits

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gq · 4761 days ago

This song is from Tom Waits newest album, Bad As Me. One day, he was watching this last leaf hanging on this one tree in his backyard. He said to the leaf "Please hang on, hang on until next spring, you will get a chance to greet all the new comers and experience it all over again". That's how this song was born. It's also about life and death.

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cgod · 4761 days ago · link ·

I feel like the last startlingly original work that Tom did was on Bone Machine. After that, pretty much the same album time and again. Lots of people disagree with me on this. Within that same old shit is some amazing songwriting, but a lack of exploration of new territory. I think black rider came out after Bone Machine, but not sure when it was written, that was a bold album, but not sure it's place in the timeline. Ofc there is an occasional song on later albums which sounds original, but on the whole same album as the last every time.

I have 12 Tom Waits albums on my I tunes and a few on wax, I'll of course give this one a chance, but my skin doesn't tingle in anticipation.

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gq · 4761 days ago · link ·

Bone Machine is actually my favorite album so far. I do really like this new album Bad As Me. I will have to listen to it more times to decide which one I like more.

One day I was having Tom Waits fever, I bought multiple of his albums and listened to him all day long, and I got really sick of him by the end of the night. I took a break from him for awhile, recently the fever has slowly come back again.

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cgod · 4761 days ago · link ·

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDMnuvb8FEY great performance.

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b_b · 4761 days ago · link ·

I own, or at least am familiar with, most of what Waits has released in his career, and I think this album might be his greatest. Every song on it is awesome. Besides this one, I would recommend anyone who is interested check out "Bad as Me" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Ta3H-ck6s) and "Hell Broke Luce" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J_U3wgNtlQ). They are both masterpieces, IMHO.

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gq · 4761 days ago · link ·

After listening to Tom Wait's interview on NPR's Fresh Air, I bought the album "Bad as me" today. You are right, it's full of great songs. "Kiss me" is also a very good song. Trying to create the "pops and clicks" sound from old records, he simply put a microphone next to a barbecued chicken on a grill, and it sounds perfect.

My brother recently gave me some iTune gift cards with quite a bit of money. That allows me to collect a lot of Tom Wait's albums.

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b_b · 4761 days ago · link ·

If I could offer a few suggestions, I would strongly suggest getting two of his early '80s records, Heartattack and Vine (1980) and Swordfishtrombones (1983). They were his first real foray into the strongly percussive and alternative instrumentation that he's so famous for now (like using a cooking chick as a sound effect). I enjoy the earlier, jazz-oriented stuff of his, but I think 1980 is really where he found his unique voice. Neither record will disappoint you, if you don't already have them.