TOM IS SUCH A GIFT! Tom Waits "Kentucky Avenue" 

One of my all time favourite songs. Hazy memories of my childhood pop up every time I hear it. Very nostalgic and emotional. My other favourite Waits song is 'Invitiation to the blues'.

I'm a grown man, 6'4" 270 lbs. with a full beard, and I sob uncontrollably whenever I hear this song. So I won't watch this video today. The memories of what it reminds me of are still too strong. Maybe in 20 more years. This song is incredibly powerful.

This can be my favorite Tom Waits song. Grear to see a reaction video finally

I'd give my right arm to relive hearing Kentucky Avenue for the first time. Thanks Tom.

Tom Waits is a genius.

One of Tom’s very best!!

I'm taking the liberty of sharing something that I just read. This is how I would describe Tom Waits if I could find a way to express it. If you who wrote it reads this, thank you for the words that I can't find in English. Just like Tom you tell a story. // Peter from Sweden "Tom Waits has his own personal style. It's evocative of beatniks and dive bars. Tom writes about broken dreams of broken people. His songs are peopled by alcoholics and the poor and uneducated just trying to get by. He spotlights their humanity and the tragic depth of their disappointments. He gives voice to their regret and notice of lost overlooked opportunity. His lyrics cut, are heartbreaking. When Tom first started writing, performing, and recording, he had a decent voice. As he got deeper into his 'character', he intentionally pushed his voice to be more whiskey-raspy, until he started sounding like he gargled each morning with sharp gravel and battery acid, like he smoked a thousand unfiltered cigarettes a day. If you listen to his albums in order, you hear him grow more raspy with each one. He was trying to match his voice to the stories he put into song; it's not a natural development, but one he purposely developed, like an artistic choice. I think he wanted his lyrics to sound more authentic, and his voice is his canvas to paint those pictures from life. I don't see his music depicting clubs, smoky or otherwise, with attendees in suits and fine clothes. I see him in cheap bars and pool halls. I see him in the rundown part of a city, where day laborers and people living on welfare self-medicate. Still, he presents these folks as still having tenderness, deep feelings, even an appreciation for poetry and beauty when they can get a glimpse of it. You can't listen to "Martha" or "Grapefruit Moon" and not see that dignity and humanity resident in even what we might consider the dregs of society. Tom Waits is the poet laureate of Skid Row." Link to the source of the quote and really deep and interesting analysis of A Christmascard From A Hooker In Minneapolis, a brilliant song. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QqAWq54JO4Q.html

You want tear jerkers? Try these. Try Martha, Day After Tomorrow, Tom Trauberts Blues (Waltzing Matilda), Tilt-a-Whirl, The house where nobody lives, Hold On, Briar and the Rose, You can never hold back Spring, One Last Look, Shiny Things, Long Way Home, Home I'll never be, Picture in A Frame, Take it with Me, Georgia Lee, Time, Fish and Bird, Down by the Train, Trampled Rose, Jersey Girl, Burma Shave, Blue Valentine, Pony, Ruby arms, A little Rain, Train Song, On The Nickel, Blind Love, Anywhere I lay my Head, Soldiers Things, Rosie, Lonely.

Once you go Tom Waits, you never go back.

Wow, what a gorgeous, sad song. I know I've heard it before, but not for ages and ages, and had half forgotten it. He does it so well, that melancholy nostalgia, all those visuals - he is amazing at painting these little vignettes, these little descriptions that are so evocative. That line, "cut the braces off your legs," brought a tear to my eye. Like there's this enormous story behind these little moments, that he just hints at.

Thanks Tommy, I'm very glad that you have enjoyed Tom, he has been a really great friend of my speakers since june 1987. As I wrote earlier it can often be a thankless task to preach the gospel of Tom Waits but when you find someone that takes his or hers music seriously and listens actively without prejudice and like it the reward is so much greater. It feels like you've done a good deed and paid great music forward. Kentucky Avenue is autobiographical so that feeling of childhood that you describe is "correct". There are two distinct periods of TW, before and with/after Swordfishtrombones, his ninth album (1983). Before that album his sound was like Kentucky Avenue, but that changed radically with Swordfishtrombones, it's both the first album on Island Records and the first that he produced himself so I guess he celebrated with a new way of creating music. I have a vague memory that he left Island for that very reason, they wouldn't allow him to go new ways, but I have a really shitty memory so it could be all wrong. For many years I've had it written in my last will that Kentucky Avenue (and Eclipse by PF) shall be played at my funeral, not for some symbolism that's not there but just for being a beautiful song that I never have grown tired of in 37 years. A friend, Mr. L, introduced me to Tom Waits by a very friendly and memorable "kidnapping". We had just got to know each other, at most two months earlier, he lived in the same student home as another new friend of mine, Mr. M. I came looking for Mr. M but he was out so I knocked on the door of Mr. L to ask if he knew the whereabouts of Mr. M, we had planned to go skydiving that day. He said that Mr. M had got an extra shift at the hospital where he worked and then asked me to come in. (No cell phones in 1987, better times 😉) Mr. L told me to sit down in his favorite chair, he looked very seriously at me without saying a word for a good minute and then brought me two beers "You're listening to bad music and I want to change that. I want you to sit down and without prejudice listen to the music I'll play for you. What I want from you is the time that it would take you to drink those two beers as if we were at the pub. Chugging is cheating!" (back then I was your generic pop-listener specializing in Pet Shop Boys) Several hours later we turned up at the student pub, totally shit-faced and very very happy. We had drunk a lot of beer and played all of Tom's nine studio albums from Closing Time (1973) to Rain Dogs (1985), and Butthole Surfers, Jonathan Richman and more. When the pub closed we went back to his place and continued. I have never had so much beer and for so many hours, totally plastered, but still I remember everything with crystal clearity. I've had blackouts from much less alcohol, the power of good music I guess. (I had also learned Mr. L's dark secret, he really liked Madonna. But he refused to buy her records because "she's on a commercial label".😂) Almost to the day two years later, thanks to Mr. M for being musically boring, I heard the music of Pink Floyd for the first time when I followed his girlfriend to PF's concert in Stockholm. You couldn't wish for a better introduction. The summer of 1987 is the most important time of my life, I joined the skydiving club where I met Mr. M which led me to meet Mr. L and with him TW, two years later Mr. M's girlfriend introduced me to PF, a year and a half later I began a relation lasting 25 years with Mr. M's then ex-girlfriend and that gave me two lovely daughters, now 18 and 25 yo. I won't be coming back to TW on Patreon for a while so I'll leave with two of my other favorite songs by TW. I hope you'll enjoy them. Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis comes from Blue Valentine just as Kentucky Avenue. Blue Valentine is my favorite album from the pre-Swordfishtrombones-era. I have mental health issues with depression and anxiety. To rest in my moaning chair with my heavy burmese cat in the lap and a glas of whisky at hand, closing my eyes and listen to Blue Valentine makes life better for a while. God's Away On Business comes from his fifteenth studio album (2002). That album is a special project, he wrote it together with his wife, Kathleen Brennan, and it consists of songs written for Robert Wilson's opera Woyzeck. There's an official video, it's more fancy and artistic but I can identify with the cookie monster so..... So obviously this became way too long and probably utterly boring for everyone (and in poor English, I know that) but since you're sharing your journey I wanted to share these pivotal moments of my musical journey. I still enjoy Pet Shop Boys very much (saw them in concert last summer for the first time, together with my older daughter) but those two moments broadened the horizon enormously and I'm very grateful to Mr. L for that. The early works of TW also led me to a totally unexpected path, early blues and later jazz. I grew up with a father that listened to jazz and I hated it so it was quite a surprise. (don't worry, I won't bother you with such suggestions 😂) I can offer you absolutely nothing new when it comes to heavy rock of any kind, except the trivia that Sweden has the second most heavy-metal bands per capita in the world. Finland leads with 53 bands per 100.000, Sweden has 37,1 and Norway 26,9. I have a very unscientific theory about that. I'm thinking of taking you to Finland next time for a tragically short-lived band that really deserves more attention, or perhaps the saddest band in Sweden since you seem to appreciate Swedish music, somewhat characterized by an often present undertone of melancholy. (you can even hear it in the upbeat Dancing Queen by ABBA or the shitty music by Ace of Base) I'm glad to see your journey, life is too short to listen to only the same type of music. // Swedish Pete ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3vbt8ReH0hI.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-U5X4N2exOsU.html

Thank you , Love Tom Waits.❤

The kindness of children.

I feel like I just went on a journey back into Tom Waits's youth. While this isn't the kind of music I would listen to on a regular basis, I appreciated the sentiment behind it and did enjoy listening to it.

Best song ever.

This is the song which lead me into Waits' oevre. I got to thank my friend who introduced me to Waits decades ago!

I got bit by the Tom Waits bug back in 2004 with his album Real Gone. Before that, I had only know a hand full of songs. Goin' Out West that heard in the movie Fight Club. Tom Trauberts Blues (Waltzing Matilda) which I heard in a movie called "Basquiat" And a few from the Mtv video days.. I don't wanna grow up, Hold On, plus his appearances on Letterman...... I swear I binge listened for about 4 years. I worked his discography backwards from Real Gone. I'd say that 90% of my musical intake was Tom. I could not get enough.

I like very much tom waits, can understand fir people that likes heavy metal this is not their melody....thank you for bringing him here. If an not intruse listen Uriah Heep they are fabulous...thank you very much....😊

Tom will always be my #1. Love him! If you want something jazzy you could try "New Coat of Paint".

❤❤❤

Tom Waits is a Legend. I've listened to a lot of his music over the years, but I'm not familiar with this song so I had to look it up. So sweet ... and a little bit scary too 😅. I've listened to this a few times now and I think I like it more with each listen. Stay Gold!

I 've got 4 bullets hole on my chest and Tom Waits is stabbing me with a Bucher knife

Forgive me if I'm paraphrasing a bit, but when an interviewer asked "Tom, where did you get your unique style" he replied, "My mother was a grand piano, and my father was a carburetor"

“Kipper”

Song about a friend of his when he was younger that had Polio.

Hell Broke Luce is angry, this one is sad. Tom is such a great writer, he excels at pulling _all_ the listener’s heartstrings.

Wonderful song, must be so evocative of a mid 20th century youth spent in America, but towards the end comes the flip. I'll take the spokes from your wheelchair, cut those calipers from your legs. wtf. Genius, only Tom could do this, genius, genius,genius.

sorrí, but vocally not my cup of tea. the music is nice, though. this song, sung by nick cave would be a perfect match

I am not a fan of this at all.I don't like his vocal style,he sounds kinda like Adam Sandler in his song "Lunch Lady Land." I do get the sentiment here, but it's just not for me at all.