Reaction to Tom Waits Hold on song.Its my first time of hearing the American sing. He sounds like a much older Bruce Springsteen.Very distinct voice. #tomwaits #musicreactions #rockreaction
Tom Waits is a BRILLIANT songwriter and singer. A true original. His songs have been covered by so many..from the Eagles to Rod Stewart and many more. "Nighthawks At The Diner" and " Small Change" are two of my Favourite albums. Brilliant stuff! Been a fan since the 70s. ♥️🎼🎶🎵🇨🇦🇨🇦
Holy Crap, are you one of the first reactors to hit Tom Waits?! Don't think I've seen anyone else... Waits is one of the GREAT American lyricists, if not vocalists. As for sounding like Bruce's grandfathers, Bruce would genuinely be flattered.
I've loved Tom's music ever since I first heard his album 'Closing Time' back in 1976 (I think). He's absolutely unique. He's a poet and a genius songwriter with an incredible songbook full of his observational views set to music, across a number of musical genres, jazz, folk, and ballads.Yes, his voice is unmistakable and that's why so many millions of people around the world love to listen to him.
Thanks for covering Tom Waits. He’s my absolute favorite musician of all time, and nobody ever reacts to his stuff. He is a true American treasure. So, so many other musicians have covered his music that most people are Tom Waits fans without even knowing it. From Springsteen to Johnny Cash, Rod Stewart to Robert Plant, the number of people who have covered him is mind blowing. Tom Waits is his own genre. He’s simply amazing.
I'm glad You liked this . It is among Tom Waits softest songs . He is the worlds wildest singer on other records . Please do more Tom Waits reactions . He has made a lot of albums .
Sorry to be “that guy” but the Waltzing Matilda song is called Tom Traubert’s Blues. It would be an excellent next stop on your Tom Waits journey. Keep going. He’s fantastic and one of a kind.
Tom is a long time favorite of mine! His ability to spin a story and convey it. The stories he creates determines the music to accompany it. This dude can rock or make you cry. I will have more requests for Harri to check out. Thanks Harri my friend, another great reaction! Peace and Happiness to all!
Springsteen in fact covers one of Tom's songs, "Jersey Girl", and performs it live in concert. The Eagles covered "Ol '55", and although Rod Stewart had a #3 hit with "Downtown Train", Tom's original is the one that'll bring a tear to your eye and tear out your guts.
I love Tom Waits. I hope you react to more. Tom wrote a song called Jersey Girl that Springsteen often sang in concert. It's very much a Springsteen sounding song. Maybe you can react to Tom's version.
Loved Tom Waits in my youth and now again as a senior. He is a great song writer and has an amazing mind. Check out "One Last Look"...made me cry. Sounds more like Bruce's Great Grandfather. Ha Ha Also love a little video with ZZ Top called "Coffee and Cigarettes".
The song of his to do next is 'Tom Traubert's Blues", more commonly known as "Waltzing Matilda". Please do yourself the favor of listening to it. And us the favor of seeing your reaction.
More Tom Waits, his range of styles is unequalled. Each song has a feeling and his voice will change according to what the song needs. One young youtuber said " everytime i hear a tom waits song, it's like i am opening a book" Spot on. A true artist.
Brilliant brilliant artist. Love " In the Neighbourhood". What many miss about this extraordinary man is his acting. He played Renfield in Dracula and was terrifying with the best English accent I have ever heard from an American! Flawless.
HIS MUSIC CATALOG IS HUGE AND THERE IS SO MUCH TO EXPLORE.I HAVE BEEN BUYING HIS MUSIC SINCE HIS FIRST ALBUM WAS RELEASED IN THE EARLY 70'S.I CAN NOT IMAGINE A DAY NOT LISTENING TO TOM. A GREAT STORY TELLER SO MUCH SO YOU COULD MAKE A FEATURE FILM AROUND ALL OF HIS SONGS ONE BY ONE.MANY ARTIST COVER HIM BUT NONE CAN CONVEY THE FEELING LIKE THIS MAN OFTEN HARD AND THEN MORE OFTEN THEN NOT HE WRITES AND SINGS THE MOST TENDER SONGS EVER WRITTEN.
I'm so glad that someone as done a reaction to Tom Waits he is a true original and gets better with age check out going out west, gods away on business, in the neighbourhood, satisfied, hell broke luce.
That’s an awesome observation Harry ! I have been listing to both Springsteen & Waits for a very long time but I never heard the similarities until you pointed it out . ✌️💕
I understand that Tom Waits' music isn't for everyone, and that's okay. I'd much rather have someone like him cutting his own path through the musical woods, than trying to sound "mainstream", simply for its own sake. But it's interesting -- in his earlier albums, he hadn't yet developed as much of his signature "growl" as he became known for later (much like some of the really early Dylan, where he hadn't yet found the interpretive voice that _he_ became known for). One of my favorites from Tom's early years is the album "The Heart of Saturday Night" (and its title track). I think you'd really dig it. Later on, Waits got very experimental and was always looking for strange new ways to make musical sounds, pushing the boundaries. I love pretty much all of his oeuvre, but for a lot of it, I have to be in the right mood to listen to it. ;-)
I think some of his stuff is, at least the lyrics, kinda universal if given the chance. I know tons of people who don't know Tom Waits music, but everyone I've played him for has found a few songs they love. Hold On being one that is often one they love. Basically everyone can relate to I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You.
Love this show. Swordfish Trombone was the album that started him on a new path. His music became much more organic and continuous to change. Not a one trick pony for sure.
When Tom was young his voice was less gravely, as he got older though, wow! I love music from right through his career from orchestral, film noire soundtracks, dusty record jazz, stream of consciousness, lo-fi beat poetry, blues, folk rock, jagged angular, angry rants and humour. I believe his wife Kathleen Brennan collaborates with him, often supplying ideas and lyrical content.
Tom makes me happy....been my favourite artist for over 30 years just simply one of the greatest story tellers ever plus musically adventurous and unusually he has get stranger and more experimental the older he gets, plus you probably seen him in loads of movies without realising
Somewhere out there is a beautiful solo piano version of this, I think from a radio show. That one really pulls the heart strings. Especially when it’s cold and there’s no music.
Tom Waits' discography (spanning half a century) is a deep, deeeeeep rabbit hole that takes you into some very strange places at times. If you pick a random Waits song, you never know what you might get. He doesn't stick to genres. He's got a ton of really beautiful ballads like this one, but he's also got a ton of... other stuff that's equally great in it's way. His wife and musical collaborator Kathleen Brennan once described Waits' music as "Grim Reapers and Grand Weepers". Bruce's grandfather. That fits! And considering that Bruce is a fan of Waits, I think he'd like that too. 😁
Man, can anyone spin a yarn like Tom Waits??? I've heard this song, and this album, hundreds of times, and yet it never ever gets old to me. I have all of his albums and no one can even touch him in my opinion. Maybe, maybe, maybe Bob Dylan or Louis Armstrong...but everyone is a close second to me when it comes to Tom Waits :)
Bruce!!! Waits does sound like Springsteen on this song. So too with his classic tune "Jersey Girl". If you're interested in something less Springsteen-esque, check out "San Diego Serenade" or "(Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night". Waits has appeared in two dozen films, notably, Down by Law (1986), The Book of Eli (2010), and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018).
Good reaction. Tom is a legend, you can hear his soft voice on his earlier albums. Ros Atewart covered Downtown Train, and Tom Traubert's blues, so you may have heard them on uk radio down the years
Funny you should relate Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen. Tom Waits wrote and performed the song 'Jersey Girl.' Springsteen covered it, and it was forever after associated with Bruce... and in a magical moment, I believe in the 80's they performed it together on stage. Find it. It is beautiful.
If you’ve seen Shrek, the original movie, you heard him. It’s the scene at the bar when Captain Hook is playing the piano. That’s Tom waits. That song is called “little drop of poison “ and I wholeheartedly suggest anyone listen to that gem!
A singular and remarkable talent. I owe someone a debt for introducing me to his work. Just a true original, a master of wry with, soul, pathos, melancholia and abstract weirdness.
Spot on Harri...I have lived this song...workin at a deadend job...life goin nowhere yet throwin yerself into it and makein the best of it...prayin for a better day to come...Ty brother
You probably have heard Tom Waits songs before, just done by different artists. One popular one from the late 80’s is Downtown Train sung by Rod Stewart. But it’s best version is always Toms original
I Love Tom Waits!! I highly recommend his performance of 'Chocolate Jesus' on the David Letterman show. The most original songwriter/singer/performer you are likely to see!
Check out his versions of Jersey Girl and Downtown Train. Because TW wrote both of those as well. You know, songs that Bruce and Rod were better known for than the OG.
Someone else might correct me but I think Tom Waits voice was an affectation to fit in with the image he developed. His voice on "Closing Time" and "The Heart of Saturday Night" is pretty much standard. On "Night Hawks at the Diner" it's more like Louis Armstrong but by the time "Small Change" was released it was full gravel. That's a shame. I much preferred his first two albums and I've pretty much avoided his later ones. "Hold On" sounds much more like those first two albums vocally. Did he change back?
You’re spot on. I double checked yesterday about what you rightly call Tom’s “voice affectation” and learned that he had an uncle with a raspy, gravelly voice that he based his act on.
Tom has admitted his singing voice was fabricated to create his persona, based on an uncle who spoke that way. It’s kind of like the opposite of a falsetto. He’s also an actor, so it makes sense that he’d think of creating an alter ego. My favorite song of his is “The Heart of Saturday Night”.
I haven't read all 105 (as I type) comments, but I presume that someone has mentioned that Bruce occasionally performs Tom's song, "Jersey Girl," and added a verse of his own (another sin, presumably, to the purest Waits purists).
You'd think RU-vid would have enough income and smarts to make their Edit button work, but since it doesn't, I am Replying to my own comment, since I wanted to add two things: Part of his greatness as a songwriter is that he is capturing his observations of the culture around him -- and often globally -- by telling tales as or about other characters. He is not an incessant fountain of "this happened to me; can you relate?" But there are exceptions to that, and I think a good one for you to react to would be "Take It With Me," from the same album as "Hold On," "Mule Variations."
