Way down in a POLL: ILM's top 50 Tom Waits tracks

29. Johnsburg, Illinois (Swordfishtrombones, 1983)
60 points, 5 votes, 1 first place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEI-UCU-BM0

28. Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen) (Small Change, 1976)
61 points, 5 votes, 1 first place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkOMiA_uGso

Yay to the person that voted Johnsburg, Illinois as their Number One

Looking through my spreadsheet I see that one person voted for 'Waltzing Matilda' - didn't occur to me till just now that they almost certainly meant Tom Traubert. So that vote wasn't counted in its final position, apologies. It made the top 50 anyway.

xp

Me! I love it so much, think it's his single sweetest moment. So small.

like i am really fond of the big ballads or heartbreakers but J, I is something else.

Was listening to Telephone Call From Istanbul this morning and that fucking organ(?) towards the end is just such an amazing piece of late-breaking instrumentation. TOO LOW.

"Johnsburg, Illinois" was the last song cut from my ballot. Happy as hell to see it on here. Good taste, woof!

JI breaks my heart, kinda like Come On Up To The House does, but from a different angle.

27. Temptation (Frank's Wild Years, 1987)
62 points, 5 votes, 1 first place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjW1ppfQECc

Great double bass solo in the live version of Telephone Call, which is from Big Time

The first Waits record I bought was Frank's Wild Years, off the back of a review in the press, I was only dimly aware of his music, but looking back I reckon Island records must have shilled his ass like crazy to make it work. I must have only been 15 or something and I was initially not at home to dissonant Optigan explorations, Rhumba and the megaphone wailing in Temptation. I was only willing to commit to the less demanding songs.
Naturally I came around when my tastes eventually caught up and now every note of Temptation is perfect.

The contributions of Greg Cohen, Marc Ribot, Ralph Carney et al to these songs cannot be understated, although I was never keen on Keith Richards when he turned up.

26. Cemetery Polka (Rain Dogs, 1985)
64 points, 4 votes, 1 first place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9bfsT3AvLU

How completely odd is this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdLyt2EsQ0Q

25. Picture in a Frame (Mule Variations, 1999)
65 points, 4 votes, 1 first place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pwxD8quPCg

24. Downtown Train (Rain Dogs, 1985)
65 points, 7 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZhW76LAnTY

I really thought that'd be top 10, maybe the Rod Stewart factor went against it.

It's a decent song, but there are like ten better tracks on Rain Dogs alone!

I'm waiting to see where "Cold Water," from Mule Variations, pops up (if it does). I was just listening to that song last night - really great stuff.

A really fun one I didn't know before coming up next.

23. Step Right Up (Small Change, 1976)
65 points, 8 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URp-Dbhr7EU&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DURp-Dbhr7EU&has_verified=1

22. Soldier's Things (Swordfishtrombones, 1983)
67 points, 7 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNwC8ETa0pg

Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcsi5Cd4XrE

Surprised and delighted to see "Soldier's Things" here at all! I figured it would be outside the top 50.

yesss my high placing for Step Right Up has paid off. That song has so many great lines, but "the large print giveth and the small print taketh away" is all-time.

Paul Young didn't lack chutzpah when it came to covers did he? (Some lovely sounds in that version mind you!)

21. Alice (Alice, 2002)
68 points, 6 votes, 2 first place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEj-mrwwaxo

30. Dirt in the Ground
29. Johnsburg, Illinois
28. Tom Traubert's Blues
27. Temptation
26. Cemetery Polka
25. Picture in a Frame
24. Downtown Train
23. Step Right Up
22. Soldier's Things
21. Alice

http://open.spotify.com/user/joe2goo/playlist/39FGIPX9whrzf9CxzxvxnQ

I voted for "Alice", but the version I love is the one from the demos. The re-recordings that made up the Alice album was what made me stop buying his records on day of release. Utterly disappointing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr7J2GS3ar4

That demo is lovely, but I really like the woozy instrumentation on the album version as well.

Are the Alice and Blood Money albums generally disliked? I really enjoy both of them and probably would have voted for a bunch of tunes off of them, but I completely missed that this poll was happening.

That demo is really nice too, are there other demo tracks from those albums available?

Still think these are very random selections from the back catalogue. Not a complaint. Love Johnsburg, one of those Waits songs that makes me feel ever so slightly weepy. Surprised Downtown Train isn't higher. I know it's a very obvious song but the lyrics are fantastic and for me it's the archetypal Waits song.

I like a lot of Blood Money and Alice has great moments (as well as horrible moments too)

There is a whole set of the Alice demos floating around. They're the tracks he cut as guides for the actors and musicians when it was first performed in 1992.

I probably would like the Alice album more if I hadn't had the demos for half a decade before it came out. He recast them for the modern Waits sound and they lost most of their creepy magic. And what he did to poor "Tabletop Joe" is unforgivable.

I'll need to check them out

I didn't see the "Table Top Joe" demo on youtube so I stuck it on my tumblr.

Whoa I didn't vote for it because I'm not a fan but I thought ILM liked Downtown Train enough to at least be in the top 10. I am not dissapointed.

Alice was my number one vote and Temptation my #9. I don't know who else voted for it in first place but I salute you.

happy to see "Picture In A Frame" this high, didn't know how well regarded it was! i put it on the playlist at my wedding, one of my fav Waits ballads.

i think Rod Stewart should be forced to record all of these songs. especially "What's He Building In There."

Aw, I hate to think how he'd deal with the pathos of "Soldier's Things."

How many Waits songs has Rod sung? He's done three from our list so far - Downtown Train, Tom Traubert's Blues, Picture in a Frame.

Alice was my number one vote and Temptation my #9. I don't know who else voted for it in first place but I salute you.

I think Temptation was my number one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNUBhKHvYSk

Surprised Traubert so low

I voted for it, but it is like my 5th or 6th favorite tune on Small Change so it was skewed low.

It's the first Tom Waits song I ever heard - played on KZON while I was driving around Phoenix. Sentimentality totally influenced me ranking it #1.

Mine was the #1 vote for "Picture in a Frame."

I used to sing it every night to my daughter as a lullaby. That clinched the ranking.

Where would you daughter rank it?