Closing Time <\/i>is a special album because it features a vulnerable Tom Waits who stands much shorter than the towering musical beast he would become. <\/p>\n
The album is an honest illustration of a man staying up late and pondering his life. The cover shows Waits leaning against his piano in the shadows, one hand gripping his hair and the other a fist pressed down on the instrument, where cigarettes and alcohol also have their resting places. There is a subdued anxiety to this picture that prepares one for Waits\u2019 contemplations. <\/p>\n
The song that has stayed with me since I first heard Closing Time <\/i>is the opening track, \u201cOl\u2019 55.\u201d Even though its story is as simple as Waits leaving the house of his lover at 6 a.m., it is as much about watching the world come alive as it is about love. Perhaps the most endearing quality of the song is, ironically, the pain of leaving behind a moment that should last forever. <\/p>\n
Most of the album follows the lead of \u201cOl\u2019 55:\u201d modest but solid instrumentation and pensive songwriting. \u201cI Hope That I Don\u2019t Fall In Love With You\u201d is heartbreaking in its theme of missed opportunity, anchored by gentle acoustic guitar. Drunken trumpets accompany Waits in the frustrated \u201cVirginia Avenue:\u201d \u201cLemme tell you that I\u2019m dreaming to the twilight \/ This town has got me down \/ Seen all of the highlights \/ I\u2019ve been walking all around.\u201d Waits lets his mind wander 40 years into the future on \u201cMartha,\u201d an imagining of how two old lovers are going to reminisce. Another song that stands out from the pack is \u201cIce Cream Man,\u201d an energetic sexual metaphor. The title track is different as well in that it\u2019s an instrumental, but its melody captures the loneliness and hope of Waits\u2019 music more effectively than any other song. \u00a0<\/p>\n
By all means, this album is not a casual listen. Waits\u2019 lyrics can take one to dark and regretful moments, but Closing Time <\/i>isn\u2019t one-sided. Throughout the album, you get the sense that Waits knows he\u2019s in a rough spot but that life is worth living \u2013 precisely the reason why this one gets better with age. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":30427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6262],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-42090","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-tom-waits","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42090"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}