Tom Waits :: Back In The Crowd :: Review
“Back In The Crowd” is the second track released from Tom Waits’ forthcoming Bad As Me album and provides an apt juxtaposition from the raw title track. “Back In The Crowd” is the type of song that Waits classifies as a “grand weeper” because it reflects his more sentimental side that he perfected many years ago. “Back In The Crowd” borrows liberally from Roy Orbison’s “Only The Lonely” melody with its hushed percussion and gently swaying guitar and mandolin rhythms. However, the mellow mood belies the admonishing tone of Waits’ narrator that seems perplexed by his lover’s decisions.
“Back In The Crowd” shares the falling out tone of Dylan’s divorce album Blood on the Tracks and its placement prior to the title track on Bad As Me seems to indicate that there’s a varying shade of heartache to be found on this upcoming album. With Waits at the helm, anything could happen and at this point before the album is released, all bets are off.
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