Tom Waits
Blue Valentine

THE REVIEW

From the wrong side of the street. Life lived on the edge. Seen from the sidelines. From below. The fantastic opening of West Side Story projects us into another world. Romantic and harsh. Smoky and distant. We don't know America like this. Or we believe it doesn’t exist. Yet, here, the white and red colors and stars of the American flag are faded, washed out. Or they don't exist. America doesn't always win. It's not always first. It's not always better.

Why do I like this album so much? Because at certain moments in life you realize that not everything is perfect as imagined. Because on some Saturday nights you prefer to stay home with a glass of whiskey in hand while listening in the background to the cheerful and noisy sounds of those going out to have fun. Because, perhaps, it’s pointless to go out when you know perfectly well that the girl you love will be with another. Because you want to turn off the TV, your brain, everything and not think. Or because, simply, there isn’t even enough money to fill your car’s gas tank. It’s not rhetoric. The motto of our days is to win, not to give up, to get over everything and everyone. But why? Why can’t you let go for a moment, step aside. Stop.

Waits has lived these moments on his own skin. He has lived them much more dangerously than most of us. Alcohol, drugs, lost loves. A foreign body in a country that does not allow you to be anything but a winner, a number one. If you don’t try - and win - you’re out of the game. You're a nothing. Scandalized and disgusted by those who, looking down from the height of their successful career, despise you, or worse, don't see you at all. In this sense, New York is a jungle. If you don’t eat, you’ll be eaten. And Waits sits, drinks, and more, waiting for his predator.

This handful of songs are, to be objective, magnificent. "Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis" opens with a delicate piano narrating a cruel love story. Tom's voice is at its peak. Sweet and haunting. A stab to the heart. "Romeo Is Bleeding" and "$29.00", jazz and blues fused into a smoky, drunk amalgam. "Wrong Side Of The Road," from the wrong side of the street: ”then with my double barrel shotgun, and a whole box of shells, we'll celebrate the 4 of july, we'll do 100 mph”. "Whistlin' Past The Graveyard," the classic, with a powerful blues rhythm. An enormous song by Waits.

Perhaps it’s useless to talk about every track on the album. There are no dips in tone here. No fillers. All substance. Juicy pulp. For those hungry for life. Guys, for me, the “warmest” album by Tom Waits.