My 10 Favorite Tom Waits Albums

1…ALICE
2…MULE VARIATIONS
3…CLOSING TIME
4…RAIN DOGS
5…ORPHANS: BRAWLERS, BAWLERS, and BASTARDS
6…NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER
7…REAL GONE
8…BLOOD MONEY
9…SMALL CHANGE
10…SWORDFISHTROMBONES

I have been laboring over narrowing down a favorite Tom Waits songs list, which I will hopefully post soon in either a top 20 or maybe even 30.

TAKE IT WITH ME

“In a land there’s a town
And in that town there’s a house
And in that house there’s a woman
And in that woman is a heart I love
I’m gonna take it with me when I go
I’m gonna take it with me when I go”
-Tom Waits

This man speaks to me, and lately I have found that he does more for me than any musical artist I listen to. He has become the most irreplaceable person in my entire collection, which brings me to the undeniable conclusion that he is the one musicmaker I could not live without. I have decided that he is the essential for me, the one I would take to my grave. My brother would hold a copy of my will, which would insist that “Closing Time” be tucked into my pin-striped suit pockets, the rest of the discography in the casket, resting along the maple architecture.