50 years of tunes - 1983 - Tom Waits "Swordfishtrombones"

It took me several attempts over a number of years, more than 15 in fact, to get my head round this album. It was the one the music press always talked about but with hindsight probably isn't the best Waits album to start with. 1999's Mule Variations got me reconsidering Tom then a chance conversation on a football forum led me to Small Change and from there the whole world of Waits opened up. I only got round to picking up a copy of Swordfishtrombones last year but it's become an instant favourite and I can now see what the critics were banging on about all those years ago.

1983 - Tom Waits "Swordfishtrombones"

Released: September 1983
Label: Island
Producer: Tom Waits

Side one:
1. "Underground" – 1:58
2. "Shore Leave" – 4:12
3. "Dave the Butcher" (instrumental) – 2:15
4. "Johnsburg, Illinois" – 1:30
5. "16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought-Six" – 4:30
6. "Town With No Cheer" – 4:22
7. "In the Neighborhood" – 3:04

Side two:
8. "Just Another Sucker on the Vine" (instrumental) – 1:42
9. "Frank's Wild Years" – 1:50
10. "Swordfishtrombone" – 3:00
11. "Down, Down, Down" – 2:10
12. "Soldier's Things" – 3:15
13. "Gin Soaked Boy" – 2:20
14. "Trouble's Braids" – 1:18
15. "Rainbirds" (instrumental) – 3:05


(All tracks composed by Tom Waits)



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