Tom Waits Week, day 5: Lickety-splitly
I remember buying my CD of Closing Time ten years ago in Toronto during the film festival. I was alone, it was cold, I’d had too much coffee and seen too many movies and I still had to make my way to New York later that week. Between screenings I stepped into one of those gigantic bookstores, a Borders I think, and there was the CD staring at me. I had been listening to Tom Waits on cassettes (Remember cassettes?) supplied by friends; I owed him one. Or ten. In my hotel that night I was listening to Ol ’55 when I realized that I was lonely and happy at the same time—my favorite feeling in the world. Travel does that to you, and Tom Waits songs.
Legend has it that Tom Waits was born in the back of a taxi. I believe it.
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December 6th, 2010 at 11:47
Joy and sorrow – they are no strange bedfellows. As Kahlil Gibran says, we are “suspended like scales” between them and to be able to feel both at the same time is such a beautiful experience. :)