Well, after a long break, I would say hiatus but I don't want to sound pretentious and i don't think my spelling is very good tonight, anyway after a long break I am back to updating this site and the emails I recieve. Sorry if I missed anyone and....by the way, I am not responsible for misspellings or really strange posts.


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For the first 16 or so years of my life (only been 19 years so far) the name Tom Waits was always heard in the background. I knew the name, I knew nothing of the man or music. Until the summer after my junior high school year. That summer I was a tech apprentice (read: slave) for Williamstown Theatre Festival, and among the other CD's that had frequent play in the shop was Frank's Wild Years, soon enough work would stop as everyone sang or danced along with Innocent When You Dream (a song which, to this day, all work stops when I hear it). That combined with seeing Smoke and recieving Rhino's Beat Gen. Box Set (which includes 2 great Tom songs) sealed my fate. When I got home from that summer I bought Blue Valentines, then Heart Of Saturday Night, and shelled out too much money when I was able to find my own copy of Frank's Wild Years. Now a Tom disc is always in my player, and I actively recruit other Tom fans. With plans to teach a course on Tom next year at College, some say I am obsessed. Perhaps I am, is that bad?......waitspen@freenet.hut.fi
first ran into his music when I was fifteen. some Swedish girl who was drivng thru Omaha with my cousin introduced me to him. that night we listened to rain dogs on a long, rainy drive along the missouri and stopped at a park where this fountain was spraying mist across the lawn. that night we stayed up all night together at a children's park and talked about life on the swingsets, just me and her. her name was mirella. ever since then i've been a proud listener. have nearly every album or song and am in search of bootlegs like crazy, so if you hear anything. other than that, i was always given to be up late at night, drinkin' smokin' talkin' and his music has provided me with one helluva soundtrack. got millions of stories and they all have certian songs playing in the background, just like ghosts, all gone now. that's really all i got to say. i'm not one for advertising, so . . . it's a nice little site you got here, pal......(no email address )
I LOVE TO SING TOM WAITS SONGS AROUND THE CAMPFIRE AT BOY SCOUT OUTINGS. BOTH A PHOTOGRAPHER AND A TOM WAITS FAN I FOUND YOUR PAGE MOST INTERESTING.I JUST INSTALLED PHOTOSHOP. THATS ALL THE FURTHER IVE GOTTEN. KINDEST REGARDS......WYATT@IQUEST.NET
enoyed your page. nice artwork.......burmashave@webtv.net
I have nearly all of tom waits music, and i was introduced to him only about a year ago. many of my friends like his earlier stuff, but don't like what he had done in his later years. I however, do love his earlier jazz type music, but his later years really showed his musical ability. tom waits is the the greatest of all unknown legends. the greatest songwriter/storyteller to live, yet no one knows the man. That's why my e-mail address is dumbWAITerS. by the way, do you know how it's possible to get in touch with tom?......dumbwaiters...again, no complete email address
One day,many years ago it seems, when I was 17 or 18, I was waking up to go to school, when this song came on the radio. "Man who the hell is this?" It was a beautiful song sung by a man with a gravely voice. That song was, Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You..That was my introduction to Tom. That was over 20 years ago. Have been a huge fan ever since. He's really developed over the years and he can really pull my hearts strings. One of the very odd things I've noticed is some (most) people don't get it? Are we all strange or something? Well my kids are now teens and they love him. On that note.................Great Page! The best lyric question is impossible to answer.......orbit52@webtv.net
Waits has been a major inspiration to me in my life and is definatly one of my heroes. undead@usa.net
I saw this guy on TV (Saturday Night Live) when I was just a "kid" (maybe 20 years old, I can't recall the year) singing something about burgers and fries, in this terrible, awful voice that I have never been able to get out of my head since, and wanting to hear more of it. I could not remember the name. Then, somewhere around '91 or '92 I borrowed my younger brother's Springsteen live collection and heard "Jersey Girl" for the first time...turns out, it wasn't Bruce's song at all. Bruce singing something other than his own stuff makes one sit up and take notice. The credits said "Tom Waits". I started flipping through CD stacks in the stores, and there was that funny-looking guy. The several years leading up to '91 were really hard, personally, and there was something about the combination of misery and bemusement in this guy's music that felt like salve on a wound. Most people I know are either completely ignorant of Tom Waits and his music, or they look at me a little cross-eyed when I talk about him with my sincere enthusiasm, but his melodies, poetry, broodings, and humor have done something good for me. I know that I have probably listened to "Nighthawks at the Diner" all the way through at least 100 times, through headphones, at night, as I lay in bed not caring to sleep. Now I've got practically all of his CDs, and my local video store was able to scrounge up a brand-new copy of "Big Time" for me. I've been slowly working my way through his appearances in movies and videos (they are often hard to find) but tend to be disappointed that his performances tend to be so short or peripheral to the plot. His Renfield in "Dracula" was just fantastic. Man, but I'd love to see this guy in concert. It's sad that "The urge to play Iowa...(or Wisconsin for that matter)...has left (him)." If there was any way for someone to cue me in on where and when he might play a gig anywhere in the midwest, I know I'd be there.
P.S. It's really hard to pick out a single favorite album or lyric...it all depends on my mood. But the piano intro and lyrics to "Invitation to the Blues" is way up there. Most of "The Black Rider" is a bit beyond me, but "Black wings"(?) from Bone Machine is pretty cool. I have serious favorites on nearly all of his CDs (oh yeah, can't forget "Shore Leave"...especially the Big Time version) don't get me started. I'm tired of typing......jmsliker@execpc.com
Always happy to find a good site on Tom... actually I was driven into a frenzy of TW site-searching just before when a friend commented (in the middle of a conversation on Jeff Buckley and [tangentially] on Dylan's recent illness) that Tom Waits' death had been a substantial loss to the music industry. Yikes! Luckily, I simply had a misinformed friend (he thought Waits had died in late 1995, something I soon saw was impossible since the reviews of the 1996 Don Hyde benefits didn't mention anything about Waits seeming more taciturn than usual). Phew! Anyway, go about your business. (Tom Waits *and* Photoshop? I'm impressed!)

Casey B
Earth Graphic Design
216 Park Street
South Melbourne
Victoria, Australia

and I've selected Swordfishtrombones, but it's a real toss-up between that, Small Change and Nighthawks... not that you can have a toss-up between three options but anyway you get my point...earth@netspace.net.au
I just broke into the campus center at my college and stole beers for a couple of my friends from the dining hall. We dedicate them to Tom.....brandon-g@msn.com
wondering if you've ever heard the bootleg One Night Stand. Track list"1. Standing at the corner.2.Never talk to strangers.3. the one that got away4. depot,depot5. fall in love6. fumblin in the bluies7. the piano has...8. depot, depot9. fall in love10. emotional weather report.11. san diego serenade.12. the one that got away....rantor11@aol.com
please please please you must help me i'm sure i've heard a song by tom waits with "waltzing matilda" in it i can't find it. is it titled something else? i'm SURE i've heard it. i've searched the net for waltzing matilda only to find it's some folk australian song i've searched most of the tom waits pages to no avail. please help me. oh please. i must find this song. i must -mike...mu200@aol.com
PROBABLY MORE OF A CONTRIBUTER TO AMERICAN MUSIC AND FOLKLORE THAN BOB DYLAN...no email address
I first learned of Waits when I was in fifth or sixth grade. My science teacher (who was quite a strange one himself)listened to BONE MACHINE every day before we students arrives. I heard not only great music, but a modern, hopeless wail of relief as Waits released his soul into my ears. Now, five or six years later, I have fully exposed myself to a genre of artists: Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, William S. Burroughs, etc. I did not realize until recently that although Waits is unlike the aforementioned figures regarding the form of his expression (music vs. writing) he is still a beat poet, and one of the best there is....j80s_musak@hotmail.com
A few years ago on a lazy sunday afternoon, I was sitting on a stoop reading a paper on West Broadway just north of Canal St. in NYC. Tom and Kathleen walked by, heading up West Broadway. I looked up from my paper and saw Tom Waits walking up the street, It was a small New York City moment, but it was almost as good as sitting next to him on a bar stool. I have been a Tom Waits fan since the mid seventies when I first heard him on Cleveland radio station WMMS. My favorite Tom Waits album is ONE FROM THE HEART, but my favorite song is probably Johnsburg Illinois. At one and a half minutes it is most likely his shortest song but I think it is his most tender offering....beasttea@earthlink.net
Brilliant and sometimes deadly . alim1@alnet.net
I was first introduced to Tom through a mix tape that was given to me by a friend. It had two songs by him on it: Jesus Gonna be Here, and Earth Died Screamin. At the time I thought he was some freaky-bluesy-delerium-tremens black guy. I have subsequently learned that Tom is that and many other things: a crooner, a bum, a mystic, a carnival attendant, a salesman, a child, etc etc. The ultimate musical shapeshifter, his albums resemble the smoke that rises from his constantly lit cigarettes. Wonderful stuff. blah blah blah. . . Oh yeah, and your site is great too. I was really impressed with the layout and (of course) the graphics. Thanks for sharing your talents with us. A wonderful product.
Sincerely,
Stephen
Do i really have to pick one?...stephen@ppri.tamu.edu
When I first heard Tom Waits, I wasn't impressed. However, I continued listening, and once I got past the initial shock of his voice and started to pay attention, I couldn't get enough. I respect artists who pour their souls into what they do, and Tom Waits does just that. He sings with passion based on experiences that many people either choose not to have or just simply have never had. I also respect that he plays many different instruments and shows many different styles on his albums. (I'm sure that time, whiskey, and cigarettes had as much to do with the voice change as did a desire to emulate different musicians and further evolve his own style.) Whatever the sound or style of his next album may be, I'm sure the underlying passion will be there....(no email address)
2 words sums up Tom Waits: 3 am
Your site is quite amazing. keep up the good work, and keep promoting valuable artists....vivaldi@wizard.net
well, I think Tom Waits is one of the musicians that have done more for the future of the music in the last twenty years, a flash in the darkness of the eighties, particularly the trilogy Swordfishtrombones-Frank's wild years-RainDogs are three of the best records all ever made (yeah).The sad point is that all Tom's fans are hungry for his music since 1993, i've heard that he is beginning to compose with his wife. Now we can only wait for that new lucky day.Bye Ismael....303257@filoz.unizar.es
i first heard tom when he was on letterman years ago, i remember he sang "tango 'till you're sore". i had no clue whatsoever what he was doing - i couldn't get the musical concept - it was just too advanced, or wierd, for my ears. nevertheless, i remembered him and recognised him when i saw him in "ironweed". years later i heard "rain dogs" at a party. "what the hell is that music?" the owner of the cd told me about him for about 20 mins. i asked a few questions, but mostly listened. i now know that most of what he said wasn't true, just a bunch of urban myths made up by drunks who preferred the mistique to finding out more about him. so i went out and bought "rain dogs", which may be the album i have listened to more than any other in my life. i still can't get enough of it. i ran through two cassette copies. i had a simmilat experience with his old albums. at first i didn't like it, i just wanted the new stuff. all i had was "the early years vol. 1" and gave it one listen and went back to the post "swordfishtrombones" albums. after a while i decided to give it another listen, and, wow, i was hooked. i've got all the albums now. i don't have much else, as my cassette collection is dead and i have only been buying the occational cd for a year or so. tom waits makes up about 50% of my collection ....(no email address)but this was..."sorry, none, coffee shop"
don't you think he would hate this?....(no email address )
To this day, my favourite song is "Heart of Saturday Night"....dhakala@ebtech.net
The music doesn't compare to anything else. I love his writing and singing and acting. He is THE MAN. In all honesty, I love all his albums the same, I have all the ones listed and some soundtracts he's been on and that is pretty much all the music I listen to (with some occasional Elvis (Presely and Costello)). If you have never heard his stuff, Guy buy one of his CD's and listen to it 2. Let it sit a day or two and then listen to it again. You will love it.....allennickell@wesnet.com
Nifty site, Joe... Comments? The Music speaks for itself... Favorite Album? Now that hurts... How can I choose?....oldsoul@nconnect.net
MY WHOLE LIFE I GREW UP LISTENING TO TOM WAITS,BECAUSE MY PARENTS ARE THE BIGGEST TOM WAITS FREAKS THAT I KNOW. WHEN I WAS YOUNGER MY MOM WOULD PLAY TOM WAITS ALL THE TIME,AND I WOULD ALWAYS MAKE FUN OF HER,BECAUSE OF THE WAY HIS VOICE SOUNDED.BUT IN ACTUALITY WHEN I WAS MAKING FUN I WAS REALLY HIDING MY GENETIC TASTE AND APPRECIATION FOR DAMN GOOD MUSIC.TILL THIS DAY MY MOM,WHENEVER SHE MEETS NEW PEOPLE,SHE SAYS,''HAVE YOU EVER HEARD TOM WAITS? NO! WELL LET ME PLAY SOME FOR YOU.''AND THEY ARE IMMEDIATELY AROUSED. NOW THAT I'M OLDER I HAVE A BETTER APPRECIATION FOR THINGS. AND TOM WAITS IS ONE OF THEM!!! P.S MY ALL TIME FAVORITE SONG IS ''YOU'RE INNOCENT WHEN YOU DREAM'' ''AND IT IS SUCH A SAD OLD FEELING,ALL THE FIELDS ARE SOFT AND GREEN.AND ITS MEMORIES THAT I'M STEALING,BUT YOU'RE INNOCENT WHEN YOU DREAM.'' THANX, SAVANNAH MACNAMARA....(no email address)
the rain dogs tape broke half a year ago, but that doesn't matter - his voice is in my head. he always makes me wanna cry, even now after reading some of his lyrics i am on the verge of tears, you? ....yg49@columbia.edu
Seen him in concert several times since 1972. Have every album. He is a down and dirty poet with a knack for conjuring up interesting images of a way of life that is definitely his own....dougmeeker@aol.com
i have been a tom waits fan for years, in fact he is my hero, my idol. one of my life goals is to meet him. do you know how to contact him? i realy don't have a favorite waits album but i chose franks wild years because it was the first album i owned. i love his lyrics because they are so different and wonderful. also his music is incredable. it is so unusual. all i have to do when i feel low is put on one of his cd's and i get a smile on my face. one of the things i realy like is that he sings about singapore in so many of his songs. i think there is something magical about that place. if you could send me any info on tom i would love it! thank you, leah...hokey@agt.net
Loved it the first time i heard it and wondered why i hadn't heard it before....molbertb@hotmail.com
I really think he's a sort of angel, that makes us regret of being in this world without him... I don't know, it's like discovering the magic of the underworld, to try to create something, have an opinion, be able to live all those common places and feel part of something, sometimes not identified, but live with the knowing that you will never have Tom Waits with you to live all the bizarrous things life have... he's such a dream, such a nightmare, that realizing that he's never gonna be real for you is kind of sad and mortuorious. I don't have an e-mail, I'm at school, but if you could send me an adress to write him or some info or anything to know he exist, write to:
Huini Juarez.
Calle 7, no. 81, Col. San Pedro de los Pinos.
C.P. 03800, Mexico, D.F. Mexico....(no email address)
I love it. It is the best music ever (except for Beethoven)....akhoundov@mail.restech.upenn.e
Hello! My name is Francisco and I'm writing from Argentina. Tom Waits is not popular at all here (Many people know him but there's no way you'll find him on the radio). I heard some of TW's songs from movies (Night on Earth, Down by Law, Smoke, Dead Man Walking) and I really liked all of them. I just wanted you to recommend me a nice Tom Waits record for me to buy. I know you probably like them all, but just name one that you think is good and not very strange or experimental. It doesn't have to be the best, maybe even the first you've listened to. Your page is excellent and it looks great with those nice graphics. I'd like to have more sound clips (I only found some on another page that loads really slow). Please reply if you can
Good Luck
Francisco Pedemonte...francic@usa.net
One day, after a particularly twisted evening, I was sitting in the boss's office...I know I reeked of alcohol, a bad time for a one-on-one meeting. He looked at my eyes, hmmphed, and then asked quite unsympathetically, "late night, huh?" I jokingly replied "I don't have a drinking problem, 'cept when I can't get a drink." All of a sudden, his eyes widened, his face lit up, and he shot back "Yeah, and the carpet needs a haircut too." We got along pretty well after that. Please, Tom, come perform in New York again....jhutch@touchscreen.com
He is simply a black soul inside a white body bleeding and arising your most soft and heavy feels....(no email address)
it is a fuckin struggle of powers....(no email address)
APART FROM LYRICS THAT DESCRIBE EVERY HUMAN EMOTION WHAT ATTRACTS ME MOST TO TOMS MUSIC IS THAT NONE OF MY FRIENDS UNDERSTAND/APPRECIATE HIM. FAVOURITE ALBUM BONE MACHINE....106211,3542@compuserv.com
My ex-boyfrien introduced me to TOM WAITS six years ago, and I am certain that it was the best thing he gave me at all. Since that time I'm crazy about TOM and his BLACK-SINGER VOICE aswell about mouvies he played in. The best mouvi, that I have seen, with Tom Waits as an actor, to me is "DOWN BY THE LAW" directed by Jim Jarmush (also an outsider). I can't decide which album is the best for me, but I like BIG TIME a lot, because it's alive and I long to see Tom Waits alive on a concert - that is one of my biggest dreams. I live in Croatia (Europe) and I hope that someday HE will arrive in our part of the world. I would be greatfull if someone contact me , who has been on Tom Waits'concert, to tell me about his od hers expiriances! I was delited when I find thees pages about TOM WAITS - THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Andreja....adriatic@pro.hr
There r many Tom's admirers in Russia. Maybe because his voice and manner are very close to our tradition. Maybe just because he is good musucian. I'm only one of these admirers :) begemot....cuthere@usa.net
The first Tom Waits song I heard was from "Night Hawks at the Diner". That was in about 1975 and I have been addicted ever since.We saw Tom twice at the end of the seventies early eighties. Living here in Australia, people such as Tom seem never to tour.But I always have his vinyl (and now CD of course)to keep me going. He is a hero with us...... Stay cool W.G.B.....W.G.Bunter@ pamc.mpx.com.au
I once went out and got very drunk with my section head. Bad move. You know when you get to that honesty "off the record kind of wrecked" Well it all spilled out. He was the boss's son and sadly typified with all that's bad about that nepotism thang. I let him have it. He returned the compliment and canned me. So much for drunken bonhomie. Coming home, wrecked, I turned on my TV to see the "In the Neighborhood" promo video. It changed my life. I went out and bought up all the Waits albums with my last pay cheque. I have never made a better investment. I have most on all formats- LP,MC, CD. Never off the turntable. Hope he lets us have some more magic before long. has anyone heard his version of Hi-Ho from the Disney album? It sounds so weird I'll just have to check it out.
Hang on st.Christopher!
Salutations
Bruski London....bruski@netcomuk.co.uk
he is Toulouse Latrec in song he is ThreePennyOpera for amerika, with charm he is ghoulish and ghastly, like James Hillman' Dream and the Underworld. Both got the same dark chuckle. he iz drunk. Sufis say our soul was drunk on eternal wine long before invention of the grape. he is a family man, works at his craft. he is perceived as pretending to low life wrong his soul is there. Time will show this....bjcastle@hevanet.com
in my opinion Tom Waits is one of the most gifted musicians in rock business. He is also a great actor. That`s it!....(no email address)
I took music lessons when I was 14. I picked the trombone out of the blue. My teacher, Mr. Zipp, said a good way to learn the instrument would be to listen to how others play it. So I bought Swordfishtrombones. After all, there was a trombone on the cover. When I took it home I heard some of the strangest music. I shelved it for a year and brought it back out when I was in high school to play some of these wierd songs for my friends. More and more I found myself growing accustomed to and then fond of the songs. I now own all his albums and have converted at least as many people. My favorite album is Frank's Wild Years because it was the first one I was really looking forward to being released. I'd like Anywhere I Lay My Head to play at my funeral.....james_wilkins@sra.com
Joe- I really love your site. Nice stuff. I just wanted to tell you about my new low-fi website for my thesis on Waits. I analyzed the Frank Trilogy and I still graduated! Anyway, I just threw it on the web to save the time from responding to requests to get it mailed to people. I used your site as a source for a few graphics (along with some other stuff from other sites) and have linked you from my links page. I would really appreciate it if you could check out my site and/or thesis and think about linking me from your page. The address is
http://members.aol.com/Bluefish73/index.html

Thanks for your time---Curtis Hayes....Bluefish73@aol.com
His early albums are some of the best music I have heard but I couldn't listen to The Black Rider more than once. I have several of his early albums but am reluctant to buy anything later. Would like some insight into why his music has evolved to what it is or is there any recent work that compares with his old stuff?....eliang@iohk.com
when i go to sleep , he is always with me.....prozak@inter.net.il
I'm older than Tom, but I'd never heard anything about him or by him till last year when a friend from the Internet sent me some of his songs on a tape. I've not stopped listening yet the songs just don't get old or boring. I've never heard music like his anywhere before--so real and sad and perpetually surprising. He's a poet and musician of amazing reach and I just hope he'll make that new album soon!....(no email address)
Why can't I ever be into a musician that actually tours?....zosimos@lvdi.net
I am a student. Linguistics. I live in Winnipeg. (look it up) I want to get out. Tom Waits sings about wanting to get out. I like it. Hard times in the big city. When I get down, I just turn the lights low and try to Beat out the Dust Man with the Rain Dogs.....umdusabl@cc.umanitoba.ca
I must say....beautiful site. Breathtaking really. I love Tom Waits and have linked to your page. Just thought you deserved some praise.

In my prison cell I think these words
I was careless
I can see that now
I must be silent
Must contain my secret smile
I want to tell you
you my mirror
you my iron bars
When I made a shadow on my window shade
They called the police and testified
But they're like the people chained up in the cave
In the allegory of the people in the cave by the Greek guy --They Might Be Giants, No one knows my plan
JoN dOe.....jondoe@colba.net
Tom Waits is the most innovative and poetic artist in American music this century....aloysius@rmplc.co.uk
I could not pick a favorite. I chose the album that started it all for me. (Nighthawks at the Diner) Will He ever play live again?....vmoore97@aol.com
I AM ONLY 16 YEARS OLD. MOST PEOPLE I KNOW DONT EVEN KNOW WHO TOM WAITS IS. I STARTED LISTNING TO TOM WAITS ABOUT 4-5 YRS AGO. MY DAD AND I USED TO ALWAYS GO ON LONG DRIVES AND HE GOT ME INTO TOM AND OTHER BLUES AND FOLK SINGERS. I REALLY LIKE TOM WAITS AND I AM INTERESTED IN RECIEVING ANY INFORMATION THAT YOU COULD SEND ME ABOUT HIM. THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS PAGE. I LIKE IT A LOT AND WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT YOU HAVE DONE A GREAT JOB ON IT.
LOYAL FAN,
ANDY....drewd419@aol.com
what can be said of a man who has stirred such unknown emotion...Tom takes me to the streets ...he lets me wander into the bars with him and have a snifter of Bourbon...i can smell the cigs smokes looming in the air...there is something almost magical about listening to any Tom Wait's albums...he seems to be on of the only musicians that can transport me from my mind to his.....thanks Tom....warner1@mnsi.net
I heard Tom Waits' music for the first time about a year ago when a friend sent me a tape with "Anywhere I Lay My Head" on it. I really hated it at first, but I found that somehow I couldn't just ignore it or get it out of my mind. And the more I listened to it and other Waits' stuff, the more I liked what I was hearing. He's an extraordinary songwriter and musician, never predictable and always real, and I sure can't say the same about anybody else I can think of. Sure hope he'll make that new album--can't imagine what it will be like, though.....jabradl@sprynet.com
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