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Best Tom Waits Ballad

post #1 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:07pm
Thread Starter 
Too many to choose from. I'm having trouble here.
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post #2 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:11pm
Never Let Go. Although I am partial to I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You as well.
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post #3 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schwartz View Post
Although I am partial to I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You as well.
That's what I was coming in here to say.
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post #4 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:12pm
San Diego Serenade's a favorite.
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post #5 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:15pm
Could never pick just one. Drunk on the Moon, Ol' 55, and of course Tom Traubert's Blues are all favorites.
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post #6 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schwartz View Post
Never Let Go.
Good call. For some reason Orphans always gets neglected when it comes to my Waits listening habits.
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post #7 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:20pm
Another vote for "Tom Traubert's Blues," but I'm even more partial to "Johnsburg, Illinois" and "Take It With Me." Love "Who Are You," too, but I'm not sure if that quite qualifies as a ballad.
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post #8 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:21pm
Short and sweet: 'Johnsburg, Illinois'.
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post #9 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:22pm
Innocent When You Dream.
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post #10 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammerhead View Post
Innocent When You Dream.
I'm partial to this one as well.
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post #11 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:41pm
I used to like 'Innocent' a lot more (and it is a great song) but he always turns it into the audience singalong at shows, which I hate. It's turned me away from the song.
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post #12 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:57pm
His first two albums have so many good ones, it's hard to choose as was stated above. That said:

Ol' 55
I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You
(Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night
Jersey Girl
Ruby's Arms
The Fall Of Troy

Are all favorites of mine, and get something in my eye every single time.
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post #13 of 31
3/4/09 at 7:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ Fischer View Post
I used to like 'Innocent' a lot more (and it is a great song) but he always turns it into the audience singalong at shows, which I hate. It's turned me away from the song.
I can see how that would be annoying. But you're lucky to have seen him at all. I've been waiting for him to come anywhere near me for ten years.

Innocent was my immediate thought when I saw the thread title. My next thought was The Day After Tomorrow.
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post #14 of 31
3/4/09 at 8:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schwartz View Post
Never Let Go. Although I am partial to I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You as well.
Good call on both. Never Let Go has one of his best vocals and the accordion break is pure bliss. I'm fond of World Keeps Turning from Orphans also.

Others:

Who Are You
A Little Rain
Jitterbug Boy
The Briar and the Rose
Much of Alice (maybe my personal favourite Waits record, along with Bone Machine), but Barcarolle is sticking out as a particular highlight right now.
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post #15 of 31
3/4/09 at 8:01pm
Also, for late model great, there's 'All the World is Green'.
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post #16 of 31
3/4/09 at 9:41pm
All of them
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post #17 of 31
3/4/09 at 9:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fritz Chrome View Post

Who Are You
A Little Rain
Jitterbug Boy
The Briar and the Rose.
With you on these. And maybe I'm being far too pedantic, but great as it is, I always think of Innocent When You Dream as a waltz instead of as a ballad. Not that these are mutually exclusive categories, just that I never stuck it in the ballad category for some reason.
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post #18 of 31
3/4/09 at 10:12pm
I'm casting my vote for I Hope I Don't Fall in Love With You, but thats only because I have to choose one.
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post #19 of 31
3/4/09 at 10:15pm
I like "Kentucky Avenue".
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post #20 of 31
3/4/09 at 11:49pm
I haven't been thorough enough with his discography to know the tune, but I suspect it's the ballad these beggars were playing on a boom box and singing to downtown before they were harassed by the police.

A moment which encapsulated his music and its subjects...
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post #21 of 31
3/5/09 at 1:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cylon Baby View Post
All of them
Big win and fake rep for you.
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post #22 of 31
3/5/09 at 4:17am
Gotta agree with Phil and say San Diego Serenade. It's a bit corny, but it's the utter definition of a ballad, with it's beautiful string section and lyrics of devotion.

I never saw the morning til I stayed up all night
I never saw the sunshine til you turned out the light
I never saw my hometown until I stayed away too long
I never heard the melody, until I needed a song.

I never saw the white line, til I was leaving you behind
I never knew I needed you til I was caught up in a bind
I never spoke I love you til I cursed you in vain,
I never felt my heartstrings until I nearly went insane.

I never saw the east coast til I move to the west
I never saw the moonlight until it shone off your breast
I never saw your heart til someone tried to steal,
Tried to steal it away
I never saw your tears until they rolled down your face.
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post #23 of 31
3/5/09 at 4:21am
Or, from the same album, "Please Call Me, Baby":

The evening fell just like a star
Left a trail behind
You spit as you slammed out the door
If this is love we're crazy
As we fight like cats and dogs
But I just know there's got to be more

So please call me, baby
Wherever you are
It's too cold to be out walking in the streets
We do crazy things when we're wounded
Everyone's a bit insane
I don't want you catching your death of cold
Out walking in the rain

I admit that I ain't no angel
I admit that I ain't no saint
I'm selfish and I'm cruel, but you're blind
If I exorcise my devils
Well my angels may leave too
When they leave they're so hard to find

So please call me, baby
Wherever you are
It's too cold to be out walking in the streets
We do crazy things when we're wounded
Everyone's a bit insane
I don't want you catching your death of cold
Out walking in the rain

We're always at each other's throats
It drives me up the wall
Most of the time I'm just blowing off steam
And I wish to God you'd leave me
And I wish to God you'd stay
Life's so different than it is in your dreams

So please call me, baby
Wherever you are
It's too cold to be out walking in the streets
We do crazy things when we're wounded
Everyone's a bit insane
I don't want you catching your death of cold
Out walking in the rain
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post #24 of 31
3/5/09 at 8:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eyeball Kid View Post
With you on these. And maybe I'm being far too pedantic, but great as it is, I always think of Innocent When You Dream as a waltz instead of as a ballad. Not that these are mutually exclusive categories, just that I never stuck it in the ballad category for some reason.
Yeah, I wasn't sure about a couple of mine either - Who Are You is maybe a bit too uptempo, and is Jitterbug Boy really a ballad? They're all awesome tunes though, which is all that matters.
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post #25 of 31
3/5/09 at 9:15am
Rubys Arms

Johnsburg, Illinois

A Little Rain

Take It With Me

House Where Nobody Lives

In fact, does That Feel count as a ballad? If so thats my pick.
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post #26 of 31
10/8/09 at 11:44pm
Thread Starter 
This post has very little to do with the original intent of the thread, but it's the only recent non-Parnassus Waits-related thread I could find, and I apparently don't remember what the fucking title of the "Help Me Identify This Song" thread was, nor is the Search function of any help. SO.

Without further ado: please to helping me. I posted the request below on Facebook in hopes that the Waits nuts I know on there might chime in, but I might as well astroturf the fuck out of all of my internet channels because I really want this version.

I'm trying to find a live version of 'Clap Hands' that I heard earlier this year while walking around in SF - it had a faster tempo than the Rain Dogs/Big Time Live version and seemed to be a little more guitar-heavy, more straightforward rock rendition of the song. Any leads/ideas?
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post #27 of 31
10/9/09 at 1:39am
Can't believe Martha hasn't been mentioned. From that album, it's all about Martha and Grapefruit Moon.

Lots of great balladry on Bone Machine. Little Rain is down at the bottom. Who Are You is nice and sentimental.

As much as Waits is known for his gruff voice and quirked personality, the sad ballads have always been what draw me in. I wouldn't really care about him if it weren't for that.
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post #28 of 31
10/9/09 at 12:22pm
I somewhat agree. While Tom's novelty songs initially drew me in, I liked his "Grim Reapers" better than his "Grand Weepers" for a long time. As I get older, that's shifting towards the weepers more and more.
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post #29 of 31
10/11/09 at 4:30pm
I've always perceived some kind of dislike for 'Come On Up To The House', but I love it. I'll nominate that, as well as 'House Where Nobody Lives' off the same album. Man sings good songs about houses.
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post #30 of 31
10/11/09 at 5:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Z.Vasquez View Post
I've always perceived some kind of dislike for 'Come On Up To The House', but I love it. I'll nominate that, as well as 'House Where Nobody Lives' off the same album. Man sings good songs about houses.
It's actually the ballads on Mule Variations that really hold that album together for me, along with the clankier, up-tempo stuff like "Big in Japan," "Eyeball Kid," and "Filipino Box Spring Hog". I often skip past "Get Behind the Mule," "Lowside of the Road," and the other bluesy stuff that sits between the extremes.
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post #31 of 31
10/11/09 at 8:23pm
It's always been this one for me: San Diego Serenade

Wow.
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