Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are in a serious situation, but I need a break from the gloom, doom and bullying by way of hoarding. Music has always been my refuge and watching those beautiful Italians singing to each other from their balconies reaffirmed my belief that music is the answer. So until the old normal returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day.  And if this helps anyone else, even better.

Sometimes when I read comments under the videos I watch on YT I find myself swooning over a few of them. For example, on a Tom Waits video someone wrote, “(He) writes songs about wounded people with just a few drops of dream left.” That is one of my favorite descriptions of his music and probably one of the most accurate assessments of the people he writes about. I know he is an acquired taste for some, but I fell in love with his voice the first time I heard “Tom Traubert’s Blues” (see Day 92) which is on his 1976 album, “Small Change”. That record was released today in that year and even though it was his fourth studio album, Waits was just beginning to show us the depth of his story telling skills, his prowess for writing unique and gripping lyrics and the vast group of characters who take center stage in his songs.

Another album of his that I love is 1974’s “The Heart Of Saturday Night”. The songs on this record show a more tender and reflective side to this immensely talented artist, especially today’s track in which he is the focus. The way he tells his story of regret is absolutely exquisite, as is the beautiful string arrangement. To me his songs are like books I cannot put down, or when I must, I dream for the moment I can get back to the world he has created. Despite how eccentric his characters may seem, the thing they all have in common is just wanting to be noticed for who they are since perhaps the different aspects of their lives has made them somehow less noticeable. Or worse, invisible.

Those are the souls Waits zeros in on and shares with his audience. The ne’er-do-wells, the alcoholics, the hookers, the broken-hearted, the sad sacks, the angry types, the ones wondering where their lives went, the ones haunted by their choices or the ones just broken by life. Waits is their voice. And to me they are all people I want to get to know because, as the saying goes, there but for the grace of God. Waits extends a hand to each of them. And that in and of itself gives us all hope.

“I never saw the mornin’ ’til I stayed up all night
I never saw the sunshine ’til you turned out the light
I never saw my hometown until I stayed away too long
I never heard the melody until I needed the song

I never saw the white line ’til I was leavin’ you behind
I never knew I needed you until I was caught up in a bind
I never spoke “I love you” ’til I cursed you in vain
I never felt my heart strings until I nearly went insane

I never saw the east coast until I moved to the west
I never saw the moonlight until it shone off of your breast
I never saw your heart until someone tried to steal it, steal it away
I never saw your tears until they rolled down your face

I never saw the mornin’ ’til I stayed up all night
I never saw the sunshine ’til you turned out your love light babe
I never saw my hometown until I stayed away too long
I never heard the melody until I needed the song “.

Tom Waits circa 1976. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Tom Waits: “San Diego Serenade” (1974, written by Tom Waits).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.