Frank Rider's definitions
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
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
Get the Nighthawks at the Diner mug.Rain Dogs was released in 1985, becoming the eighth in Tom Waits' expanding discography. He had reverted back to his old self a little, in songs like Blind Love and Time. His voice had smoothed over a bit, but he still grasped his dark side, presenting evil little gems like Clap Hands and Jockey Full Of Bourbon. The title track is about being a person of the street, forgoing umbrellas and taxis for the rain and freedom.
An excerpt from Rain Dogs'
Diamonds & Gold
Some men will do it for diamonds
Some men will do it for gold
Wounded but they just keep on climbing
Sleep by the side of the road
There's a hole in the ladder, a fence we can climb
Mad as a hatter, you're thin as a dime
Go out to the meadow, the hills are a-green
Sing me a rainbow, steal me a dream
Diamonds & Gold
Some men will do it for diamonds
Some men will do it for gold
Wounded but they just keep on climbing
Sleep by the side of the road
There's a hole in the ladder, a fence we can climb
Mad as a hatter, you're thin as a dime
Go out to the meadow, the hills are a-green
Sing me a rainbow, steal me a dream
by Frank Rider August 23, 2009
Get the Rain Dogs mug.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
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
Get the Big Time mug.by Frank Rider August 22, 2009
Get the A and B the C.O.D. mug.1. The fourteenth song on Tom Waits' 1999 album, Mule Variations.
2. A term for any strange or disgusting new food. If you can't figure out a food's name or ingredients, you may call it this.
2. A term for any strange or disgusting new food. If you can't figure out a food's name or ingredients, you may call it this.
Rattle snake piccata with grapes and figs
Old brown Betty with a yellow wig
Tain't the mince meat filagree
And it ain't the turkey neck stew
And it ain't them bruleed okra seeds
Though she made them especially for you
Worse won a prize for her bottom black pie
The beans got thrown to the dogs
Jaheseus Christ, I can always make room
Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog
Old brown Betty with a yellow wig
Tain't the mince meat filagree
And it ain't the turkey neck stew
And it ain't them bruleed okra seeds
Though she made them especially for you
Worse won a prize for her bottom black pie
The beans got thrown to the dogs
Jaheseus Christ, I can always make room
Cookin' up a Filipino Box Spring Hog
by Frank Rider August 22, 2009
Get the Filipino Box Spring Hog mug.A shitplitive is an expletive invented in an OHSHIT moment, and can be amazing, but is usually forgotten in the pain or excitment.
"Fuck monkeys on a shit log! That sonafawhore hammer just hit my thumb!"
"Wow John, cool it with the shitplitives."
"Wow John, cool it with the shitplitives."
by Frank Rider August 22, 2009
Get the Shitplitive mug.This Tom Waits album is from 1976. It's his fourth, and again he has evolved just a bit. With more than half of the album about drunkenness and alcohol, Waits has deviated quite a bit in writing style. He is still quite hysterical in Step Right Up, but now there are mournfully slow songs like Bad Liver and a Broken Heart. The music itself is much more depressed, with lower notes and slower speeds on many songs, but diversely more laughable lyrics on others.
An excerpt from Small Change's-
Pasties And A G-String
Strip tease, prick tease, car keys blues
And the porno floor show, live nude girls,
Dreamy and creamy and brunette curls
Chesty morgan and watermelon rose
Raise my rent and take off all your clothes
With trench coats, magazines, a bottle full of rum,
Shes so good, to make a dead man come
Pasties And A G-String
Strip tease, prick tease, car keys blues
And the porno floor show, live nude girls,
Dreamy and creamy and brunette curls
Chesty morgan and watermelon rose
Raise my rent and take off all your clothes
With trench coats, magazines, a bottle full of rum,
Shes so good, to make a dead man come
by Frank Rider August 22, 2009
Get the Small Change mug.