The Tom Waits Project: #19. "Real Gone" (2004)

There are few artists who have had as enjoyably weird of a career as that of Tom Waits. With a career spanning over 45 years, he has reinvented himself countless times while providing some of rock's strangest, most eclectic tunes imaginable. Over the course of 2019, my goal with The Tom Waits Project is to explore every single one of his studio albums as well as live albums and soundtracks (no compilations) and chart the shifts in his career as well as hopefully understand what makes him so ubiquitous in pop culture. He's an artist who has always been there, making things weird, but there's a good chance you haven't truly noticed him. Here's your chance to join me every other Wednesday on a quest to find out what makes him so special.

Album: "Real Gone"

Release Date: October 3, 2004

Label: ANTI- Records

Certifications: N/A

Track List:

1. "Top of the Hill"
2. "Hoist That Rag"
3. "Sins of My Father"
4. "Shake It"
5. "Don't Go Into That Barn"
6. "How's It Gonna End"
7. "Metropolitan Glide"
8. "Dead and Lovely"
9. "Circus"
10. "Trampled Rose"
11. "Green Grass"
12. "Baby Gonna Leave Me"
13. "Clang Boom Steam"
14. "Make It Rain"
15. "Day After Tomorrow"
16. Chick A Boom"

*NOTE: Listen to it here.

Track Analysis

This section is a song by song breakdown in hopes of understanding what makes each song special in his catalog. Other things considered will include best song, most interesting standout, and other fields deemed relevant to the album.

"Top of the Hill"

Just when you think that Tom Waits has reached his peak, where he's not going to pull any more surprises, he goes and adds record scratches to his next album. While underneath isn't exactly anything new - it's another grand metaphor for death - the intoxicating production makes it sound like a mix of the country and folk music of "Mule Variations," but done by some demented dude from the ghetto. It's fun and unlike anything he's done before. Yes, the guitars are still rusty-sounding, but everything is in place as Waits sounds like he's been listening to a lot of early-90s Beastie Boys in order to get a sense of how to make a really cool song. Thankfully, it works very well.

"Hoist That Rag"

With the distorted voice still in tow, Waits sounds like he's back at his old tricks. The percussion has a sense of torture behind every note, and it pains the vocals as he sings with a wailing sense of misery. When the chorus kicks in, the backing vocals sound like a group trying to make the most of this world. It's an infectious little tune, and one that captures the sense of dread that has been developing throughout the rest of this album so far. The guitar sounds a little cleaner, but it still sounds like the rail to something more traumatic down the line. What exactly that is, it's hard to really figure out.

"Sins of My Father"

At a sturdy 10 minutes, Tom Waits' third song helps to establish the tone of evil that is developing throughout this entire album. In this case, he's using religious imagery to suggest that something evil is going on in the barn. What exactly? He suggests that you don't know. So in order to save humanity, he's going to wash the sins of his father and mother, hopefully making the world a better place in the process. His voice his muted in a way, managing to sing underneath the skipping guitar, which sounds just as devious as the lyrics. Even with this being the longest song on the album, it manages to breeze by, capturing the singer's gift for catchy lyrics that are a bit more disturbing when you look into them a little closer.

"Shake It"

I'll be honest that this is one of the more difficult albums to understand just what Tom Waits is getting at sometimes. In this case, it really does sound like he's living in an empty can that's being shaken around. The beat is manic, managing to sound like it ricochets off of echoing walls, capturing a lack of control that's barely holding together. It's more sensible than the lyrics, which were hard to make out, but that's the point. It's all about the chaos and capturing a sense of madness on top of what are probably disturbing lyrics that are jumbled and probably don't rhyme together nicely. It's a great song, even if it's hard to understand a lot of it.

"Don't Go Into That Barn"

The themes are starting to come together as we finally understand why we shouldn't go into the barn on "The Sins of My Father" as well as the tonal oddity of "Hoist That Rag." What's inside is another myriad of fascinating and morbid images that Waits bestows on his audience, making them feel awe for witness the seedy life of the world they could never know. It also helps that he has a deranged range of vocal levels that are fun, capturing an intensity and unease often within seconds of each other. By the end of the song, it's easy to understand why you shouldn't go into that barn. It's full of unpleasant things that are likely to give you nightmares. The fact that Waits can put up with it is a thankful miracle when you get down to it. 

"How's It Gonna End"

While things have mellowed out for now, it doesn't seem like Waits' mind is any more at rest than it has been on more tracks. Whereas they are predicting a whirlwind of chaos, this is a track that is meditating on the idea that things are going to come to an end, but how? With a guitar skipping behind him, he sings about life in a subdued melody that tries to undercut the grim imagery by which he sings. It's compelling, drawing you in as he goes through the motions of events. Considering that this song isn't even halfway through the album, there's a lot to be concerned about. Is it really over, or is there going to be something that blows up, causes a world of pain the likes of which have never been seen before? Whatever it is, the calm before the storm is intriguing, but all the more deceptive to the overall experience. 

"Metropolitan Glide"

Things start to pick up again as Waits goes for a bit more of a jazzy song. The guitar feels like it's gliding through the street, but occasionally hitting a bump or something in the road. There's a delusional joy to the entire song, but it also reflects what makes this album fascinating in the canon of Waits music. Even as he's singing about familiar themes, the scratching in the background of vocals yelling "Are you read?" only add to a sense of delusion that has been building throughout the music. Waits' voice cracks, laugh a few times, and it all adds texture to this weird little song on an album that definitely lives up to the title of being real gone. Even when it's having fun, it can't help but make you sound concerned for everyone involved. 

"Dead and Lovely"

There's another moment of quiet clarity here in which Waits looks back on a love he had that didn't work out. While it's presented in the style of a ballad, what comes across clearest is how he subverts the romantic angle by highlighting his own regret. He didn't go after her when he could have, so now she is dead. There is nothing left of her and he is left in this state of pity to wonder what is actually out there for him. Considering that there's still another half of the album to go, there's still the off chance that he can find love again. For now, he's in a somber place, trying to get the chaos out of the way and find a normal life that matters to him.

"Circus"

This album is hitting all of the Waits' familiar topics. In this case, he returns to the circus to give his latest monologue. This one has a lot of the rich imagery that we've come to expect of freaks getting out there and performing. He also invests in their personal lives, trying to understand what motivates them to get up in the morning. It's another subdued track that feels more like a boozy observation, but it works at capturing the tone of moving on from past mistakes by running off and joining the circus. The only question is if it will be enough for Waits to come to terms with his dark past, or if it will only make things worse.

"Trampled Rose"

It's here that there's a sound of regret, only there's one that has more of a clarity than what's been heard in the past. As he cries out, there's a blues-gospel feel to his voice, as if he's exorcising his demons and finding a new peace. He thinks of all the people he's impacted over the years, believing that there's a lot of good in the world. The only issue is that within that same time, he still thinks of the trampled rose that he did wrong. It still is out there, lying in misery because of him. What could he possibly do to fix such a delicate thing? All he can do is move on, but as he displays here, it's very difficult. 

"Green Grass"

While this is once again a love song, it can't help but feel a bit warped in the bigger picture. With ideas of catching mockingbirds when the sky falls, he creates this vision of a time that is simple, even though he knows that his neurotic past will keep him from achieving it for too long. Still, he wants to feel that love by lying on the green grass and just enjoying the simple things in life. The only thing that makes it all the more questionable is how he sings it, which is in his lower register, suggesting not that he's acting masculine, but more demonic as if he's hiding something. The question from here is what he could be hiding, or if it's just a mislead that causes us to always wonder what he's up to.

"Baby's Gonna Leave Me"

And with that, the pattern has started over again. The love that Waits was able to hold onto for a few songs has once again fallen apart. He's once again boiling in despair, and his cries fill the track with so much heartbreak. Even with the whistles and the clanging percussion, he tries to hold on, but it's no good. He's a total mess. He's unable to have any sensible center. Considering that this is the final trajectory towards the end of the album, it doesn't seem like things will be getting much better. Still, he manages to make a mental breakdown into an infectiously delirious time, and here is what probably stands as his last fleeting moments of sanity starting to disappear.

"Clang Boom Steam"

While the album features one of the Waits' longest songs, it also features this short song. What does it add to the overall album? It's probably the sense that things keep rolling on. He is after all part of the circus and he is being pushed along to the next event. It's why the backing vocals sound like gears turning on train tracks, projecting him to whatever destination is up ahead. He doesn't sound too happy to be going there, but he has no choice. This is the final road to whatever misery lays at the end, and it's not going to look pretty when we get there.

"Make It Rain"

With the finish line in sight, there is one last burst of optimism from Waits as he sings about wanting to have it rain. If it does, there will be life restored to this drought. His mentality has dried up and there's not a lot to look forward to. As he sings deep from within his soul, he reaches out with the prayers of making something better of this world. With the percussion taking on the metallic sounds of train tracks, it's clear that he's still on his way to a final destination. The only question is what will be there, or if there will really be any rain worth mentioning when that happens.

"Day After Tomorrow"

Despite being a very nihilistic person, there's something bizarre about Waits ending an album on such a somber but promising note. Unlike his previous albums, this one feels like it ends by wondering what the day after tomorrow will look like. It's a song that feels purposeful in its stance against war, fighting for the freedoms of the individual. With a guitar and no vocal gimmicks, he gets to the heart of his subject quickly, creating a song so beautiful that you remember what has made him an essential musician for four decades now. Even amid an album full of chaos, he still manages to deliver something moving and touching like this, leaving us to question our own morals and mortality in the world.

"Chick A Boom"

There's no real rhyme or reason to this song, especially as it's discordant to the more beautiful track before it. If there's anything to be suggested by the title of the song being repeated consistently for the remainder of the album, it's that there's madness that exists, even within the peace of an individual. There's a need to feel the jerkiness that will never go away. It's an infectious little track, full of the familiar chaos. Thankfully it only lasts for a minute or so, but it manages to linger on even when the album cuts it abruptly, leaving us to enter the real world with a sense of question in our mind of what everything truly means. 

Closing Remarks

So far the 21st-century output of Tom Waits can be summarized as being a bit on the familiar side. This isn't to say it's a bad thing. He's still capable of conveying powerful emotion and mixing up his style enough to make it sound fresh. The one positive is that of the three albums from the first four years, this one stands out as being one of the more interesting and singular achievements. It's still rooted in a familiar cynicism that has defined his work, but it also feels like he's found new angles to play with his style and emotional subject matter. It could be that this is a pseudo-political album and thus has a deeper purpose. However, it's also a sign that Waits isn't going to fall into old age without a fight. He's still an exciting artist, even if he's not making albums on par with most of what he's done before.

Coming Up Next: "Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards" (2006) - PART ONE OF THREE

Album Rankings

This section is dedicated to ranking the albums from best to worst in hopes of finding which Tom Waits album is the best.

1. "Rain Dogs" (1985)
2. "Blue Valentine" (1978)
3. "Swordfishtrombones" (1983)
4. "Mule Variations" (1999)
5. "Small Change" (1976)
6. "Frank's Wild Years" (1987)
7. "Heartattack and Vine" (1980)
8. "Bone Machine" (1992)
9. "The Heart of Saturday Night" (1974)
10. "Nighthawks at the Diner" (1975)
11. "Real Gone" (2004)
12. "Blood Money" (2002)
13. "Foreign Affairs" (1977)
14. "Closing Time" (1973)
15. "The Black Rider" (1993)
16. "Alice" (2002)
17. "Night on Earth" (1992)
18. "Big Time" (1988)
19. "One From the Heart" (1982)

Song Rankings

This section is dedicated to finding the best songs from each album and comparing them to each other in hopes of finding which one is Tom Waits' best song.

1. "Hang Down Your Head" from "Rain Dogs" (1985)
2. "Filipino Box Spring Hog" from "Mule Variations" (1999)
3. "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" from "Bone Machine" (1992)
4. "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard" from "Blue Valentine" (1978)
5. "I Wish I Was in New Orleans" from "Small Change" (1976)
6. "Way Down in the Hole" from "Frank's Wild Years" (1987)
7. "Way Down in the Hole" from "Big Time" (1988)
8. "Martha" from "Closing Time" (1973)
9. "Jersey Girl" from "Heartattack and Vine" (1980)
10. "The Day After Tomorrow" from "Real Gone" (2004)
11. "Shore Leave" from "Swordfishtrombones" (1983)
12. "God's Away on Business" from "Blood Money" (2002)
13. "Potters Field" from "Foreign Affairs" (1977)
14. "Eggs and Sausage" from "Nighthawks at the Diner" (1975)
15. "Watch Her Disappear" from "Alice" (2002)
16. "Los Angeles Mood (Another Private Dick)" from "Night on Earth" (1992)
17. "Please Call Me Baby" from "The Heart of Saturday Night" (1974)
18. "Just the Right Bullets" from "The Black Rider" (1993)
19. "Picking Up After You" from "One From the Heart" (1982)