Tynan's Anger

SONGS OF THE DECADE #14

[For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List]

Tom Waits - Road To Peace (2006)




The bleakest, most depressing, so-sad-you-don't-even-want-to-talk-about-it political crisis in the world has known has never had one thing it truly needs: a great blues song to match. Tom Waits, whose greatest strength is his informed unpredictability, took a risk in an unprecedentedly one-sided American debate to start with the perspective of the Palestinians, working his way to the middle ground.

People who have a political stance will inevitably take sides on this track, and those that have none will ignore it. Yet there was no better musician to take on a politically dangerous, dirty truth with the Weep to match the Reap than Waits, the rock star who had an old soul in his 20s. So long as there's still a crisis in Israel, this song will never get old, and if the crisis is ever resolved, well, there are worst fates than one song losing its vitality.

Labels: 2000s, lists, pop music, road to peace, songs of the decade, tom waits

SONGS OF THE DECADE #83

Tom Waits - Day After Tomorrow (2004)


The single most disillusioning musical moment I have ever had was seeing thousands of people at David Byrne's 2009 show in Prospect Park singing along to the chorus of "Life During Wartime" with two wars raging overseas. My God, how did we get here?

Perhaps it was the same reason that Tom Waits' war ballad was mostly appreciated by those who had never been to war. The song's major political accomplishment was being featured on a MoveOn compilation tape. It's main musical accomplishment was being listened to by fans who were devoted enough to go beyond downloading Rain Dogs. Because Waits is "establishment" simply by being older, he's already got a wider audience, even if this song's main appeal is to younger people who have never head it. Could it be that the man who Rolling Stone declared the most underrated musician in rock 'n' roll history is still underrated today? It may be that he's the right man for Rolling Stone to declare underrated, even if it's for the wrong reasons.

Labels: 2000s, day after tomorrow, lists, pop music, songs of the decade, tom waits