Tom Waits : Bad As Me :: Track Review
“Bad As Me” is the title track and lead single from Tom Waits’ first new album in seven years. If the title track is any indication, Bad As Me will be a corker as it finds Mr. Waits doing what he does best—spinning a dark yarn combined with resplendent wordplay. “Bad As Me” shuffles into action with a stumbling rhythm section accompanied by a wayward saxophone and Waits in full on testifying mode. Waits delivers a suitably pitch black and pinched vocal take that reveals the twisted relationship between the song’s narrator and the more subdued Mephistophelean nemesis.
As the song begins, the anonymous narrator baits his nemesis with reasons why he is the bane of his existence, “You’re the head on the spear, You’re the nail on the cross, You’re the fly in my beer, You’re the key that got lost…” The narrator eventually contradicts himself in the chorus when he comes to the realization that “You’re the same kind of bad as me.” Our hero finds his rant interrupted by what appears to be Ol’ Scratch, who drolly declares, “No good, you say? Well, that’s good enough for me” which only forces the narrator to rattle off more metaphors that only further entice his adversary.
Sonically, the track finds the Waitsian troupe in fine fettle. Everything from the jagged guitar vamps to the shifting rhythms flaunts the fact that Waits has one of the best groups working in the business today. October 25th can’t come soon enough.
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Johnroberts Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 12:57 am
I like the picture a lot.
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