Hold On – The Cottars (Tom Waits cover) We'll find out in a few hours whether my conviction that (all polling data aside) the Dems hold Massachusetts. In the meantime, how about a boisterous Celtic-inspired folk cover of Tom Waits. I've never really 'gotten' Waits. I understand why other people like him, and I like some of his songs. But he's never really connected with me. Except for one song: "Hold On" where the bluesy, perforated voice thing, the haunting melody, and the pure and perfect lyrics all fit together into [...]
I somehow managed to reach full-bore adulthood without hearing a lick of Tom Waits . Which is probably all for the better: as I've noted many times , my long-standing preference for melodic voices is only now giving way to a mature appreciation of the unique beauty that springs from powerful truths filtered through broken instruments. And anyway, the Tom Waits songbook is eminently adult, both in the way it looks at the world through bleary, jaded, ancient eyes and the way it rattles about with themes of alcoholics, lonesome trainwatchers, [...]
The Cottars are a Canadian musical group originating from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. This song is from their second album On Fire released in 2004. My sister Moe is in the midst of a snowstorm which will drop two feet of the white stuff. Two inches are falling every hour. She inspired the mini-theme day. MP3 File yousendit
Tom Waits: Hold On [ purchase ] I thought that was a good thing to say in a song. Hold on. We're all holding onto something. None of us want to come out of the ground. Weeds are holding on. Everything's holding on. I thought that was a real positive thing to say. It was an optimistic song. Take my hand, stand right here, hold on. We wrote that together, Kathleen and I, and that felt good. Two people who are in love writing a song [...]
Just a quick note to let folks know that, although I'm holding off on posting anything of real significance this close to the move, thanks to some amazing benefactors and patronage, I'm hoping to have good news and a new site address sometime later this week. (Of course, there's always room for a bit more encouragement as the process continues; if you haven't had a chance to offer your support, please check out our call for patronage below.) The plan is to resume regular twice-weekly posting, with the depth and breadth [...]
Just a quick note to let folks know that, although I'm holding off on posting anything of real significance this close to the move, thanks to some amazing benefactors and patronage, I'm hoping to have good news and a new site address sometime later this week. (Of course, there's always room for a bit more encouragement as the process continues; if you haven't had a chance to offer your support, please check out our call for patronage below.) The plan is to resume regular twice-weekly posting, with the depth and breadth [...]
Readers of my other blog will know I traveled hundreds of miles to see Tom Waits last month (missed it? Read about night one and night two .) His tours are a rare event, but he's a concert performer unlike any other, aggressive and wild, stomping and growling his way through songs both harsh and touching. So to celebrate the event, for this month's album I'm doing a personal favorite, his '99 comeback release Mule Variations that earned him his first Grammy for Best Alternative Album (in response he quipped: "Alternative to [...]
Cover Me
Heartache with Hard Work
Cover Lay Down
Keep the Coffee Coming
Star Maker Machine
The orchestra is dreaming
American Idol Finalists: where are they now?
