Frank Rider's definitions

Nighthawks at the Diner

This 1975 live studio album was Tom Waits' third release. It begins with a bit of sax, percussion and an intro by Waits. He's a bit of a stage comedian, telling jokes between songs, and giving little introductions before them. The music is beautiful, as with all of Waits' live work. One of the best is Better Off Without A Wife, all about a stag and his love of being alone. Playing after that is Nighthawk Postcards, which is another great story, this time of a journey through a town past dark.

An excerpt from Nighthawks at the Diner's-
Emotional Weather Report

With tornado watches issued shortly
Before noon Sunday, for the areas
Including, the western region
Of my mental health
And the northern portions of my
Ability to deal rationally with my
Disconcerted precarious emotional
Situation, it's cold out there

by Frank Rider August 22, 2009

The Heart of Saturday Night

Tom Waits released his second album just a year after his first. Much had evolved from then, though much was the same. Waits' newer music had a more jazzy feel, rather than the country twang of his debut. The piano is often drowned out by other instruments, but it does come pounding back out. The title track, The Heart Of Saturday Night, and it's conclusion The Ghosts Of Saturday Night, are settled, but very bouncy tunes.

An excerpt from The Heart of Saturday Night's first track-
New Coat Of Paint

Let's put a new coat of paint, on this lonesome old town
Set 'em up, we'll be knockin' em down.
You wear a dress, baby, and I'll wear a tie.
We'll laugh at that old bloodshot moon, in that burgundy sky

by Frank Rider August 22, 2009

Blood Money

The second half of Tom Waits' 2002 simultaneous release with Alice, his fifteenth album, and it's even got magical abilities. Kind of. This album is a studio version of music from Waits' version of the play Woyzcec. It is a chilling set of songs, but it is an amazing peek into Waits' mind. Track five, God's Away On Business, is a happy seeming tune, disguising a horrific tale of the sinking ship we are all on.

An excerpt from Blood Money's-
Misery Is the River of the World

God builds a church
The devil builds a chapel
Like the thistles that are growing
'Round the trunk of a tree
All the good in the world
You can put inside a thimble
And still have room for you and me
If there's one thing you can say about Mankind
There's nothing kind about man
You can drive out nature with a pitch fork
But it always comes roaring back again

by Frank Rider August 23, 2009

Pehdtsckjmba

1. A meandering course, seemingly devoid of reason, but based upon a logical idea.

2. A term invented by Tom Waits for his 2008 tour press conference video. It began as an acronym for the cities on his U.S. tour list, and became the 'guiding word' of the tour.

We'll be taking a pehdtsckjmba across the country this summer, and we'll be zig-zagging coast to coast.

by Frank Rider December 6, 2009

Heartattack And Vine

Tom Waits' sixth album, from 1980, had nine tracks and lasted for forty-five glorious minutes. As soon as it starts playing you get a smooth blast of drum, and a jagged slice of guitar. Half of the album's songs are jumpy and dangerous, while the other half are slow and beautiful. Some high points are Jersey Girl - a love song, and 'Til The Money Runs Out, a loud-mouth fighting song.

An excerpt from Heartattack and Vine's-
Mr. Siegal

I shot the morning in the back
With m' red wings on
I told the sun he'd better go back down
And if I can find a book of matches
I'm goin' to burn this hotel down
You got to tell me brave captain
Why are the wicked so strong
How do the angels get to sleep
When the devil leaves the porch-light on

by Frank Rider August 23, 2009

9th & Hennepin

1. The twelfth song on Tom Waits' '85 album, Rain Dogs. It is a chilling, but beautiful, description of the bad part of town.

2. A street corner, or part of town know for prostitution, drugs, and crime. A hooker here could be called a Hennepin girl. Cops would be crooked, the food rotten, the bars bloodied, and the sky dark.

Well, it's 9th & Hennepin
And all the donuts have
Names that sound like prostitutes
And the moon's teeth marks are
On the sky like a tarp thrown over all this
And the broken umbrellas like
Dead birds and the steam
Comes out of the grill like
The whole goddamned town is ready to blow.

by Frank Rider August 22, 2009

Big Time

Big Time, from 1988, was Tom Waits' second live album, but it was his tenth release. Waits did a tour called Big Time which was taped and became a little known movie of the same name, and there was an album of the songs released. There are two new songs on the album, but all recordings of old songs are new. Falling Down and Strange Weather are the originals, though the latter was from the stage version of Frank's Wild Years. This is an amazing album, with beautiful versions of already perfect songs.

An excerpt from Big Time's-
Strange Weather

Will you take me across the Channel,
London Bridge is falling down
Strange, a woman tries to save
What a man will try to drown
And he's the rain that they predicted,
Its the forecast every time
The rose has died because you picked it
And I believe that brandy's mine

by Frank Rider August 23, 2009