How To Write Songs - How TOM WAITS Taught Me to Write Songs
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ม.ค. 2022
- In this video we focus on the song BIG JOE & PHANTOM 309 - written by Tommy Faile in 1967 and covered by Tom Waits in 1975. We analyse Tom Waits interpretation and delivery of the song, examine the unconventional linear form that blurs the lines between poetry and song, as well as focusing on keeping your listeners engaged through unexpected phrasing and powerful imagery.
This video is an extract from a longer video titled '6 SONGS THAT TAUGHT ME HOW TO WRITE SONGS' - • How To Write Songs - 6...
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ABOUT BENNY:
Ben's passion for music and creativity stretches across multiple disciplines and art-forms. He is a founding member and songwriter / lap-slide guitarist for one of Australia's best and most bearded country-bluegrass-folk bands, THE GREEN MOHAIR SUITS. To date the Mohairs have released 4 full-length albums and tour both nationally and overseas.
Ben is also the Founder and Head Producer of SILAMOR STUDIOS, a boutique studio specialising in Composition for Film, TV and Interactive Media. He writes extensively across various instrumental and lyric-based genres and has been commissioned for major projects by Adobe, Cathay Pacific and Audible. He also currently releases original songs under the name SILAMOR.
Ben has taught song and lyric writing as well as film composition for JMC Academy and the Australian Institute of Music. He also designs and regularly facilitates workshops on creative process and innovation.
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MUSIC IN THIS VIDEO:
'Big Joe and Phantom 309,' by Tommy Faile © 1967 released by Red Sovine, Starday Records
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Phantom 309 is an old trucker song by Tommy Faile. Tom Waites reworked. He did add lots of the great imagery but it’s really more of a co-write.
I’d go so far to say this is actually a cover of a great classic. I love the Red Sovine version, too
One of my favourite Tom lines is;
' I got a head full of lightning, a hat full of rain'. Says so much with so little.
Love that you talk about Tom Waits, his lyrics are amazing - so many song examples! In terms of cliches, Jim Steinman!
Phantom 309 is a Ray Sovine song covered by Tom Waits
Tom Waits and Charles Bukowski taught me so much about life and have been my my constant go-to for +20 yrs now when i want to feel happy, sad, introverted or crazy. No matter where ive found myself emotionally or in searching for an outlet of expression I have never found anything that helps as much as these 2 artistic geniuses.
I’m a fan of Tom Waits. New to his music. Especially “What’s he building in there”. This one reminds me of a deeper version of Alan Jackson’s “Midnight in Montgomery”.
Tom Waits is unquestionably one of THE most important people in music. What an absolute Legend. I was fortunate to see his last ever show, the 3rd of 3 nights in Dublin, and was truly blessed to be in the second row... right in front of him and his piano. Mind-blowingly awesome gig. Small Change and Frank's Wild Years are 2 of his best tunes Respect & Peace
Couldn't agree more David, one of the absolute greats! Amazing that you got to see him live in Dublin... what an experience! Thanks for sharing
Thank you for this.
I feel like this is exactly what I needed to hear right now for my creativity
I consider this video literal treasure
Incredibly instructive and helpful to someone like me who is not a wiz at music theory. Thank you so much!
thank you so much for all this content🙏🏽
You're most welcome Matt! Thanks for your support
You have great chemistry as a teacher duo! I love your anthropological approach to songs. In addition, English is not my native language, and you speak with such good diction that I understand everything. My favorite Tom Waits song recently is Picture In A Frame. Greetings from Poland!
Tom Waits is just the best, especially the entire lp The Heart of Saturday Night. The moon is holding water because it is in a crescent shape, you could pour water into it metaphorically.
I love the surprise part in the song when he goes into the diner and orders the ''cup of mud'' and mentions big Joe. At that point as the song goes ''The place went deathly quiet, what's the matter did I say something wrong''. It's a genius of a song. Great video.Thank you
Thanks for this great series. I am entranced. Just an FYI I listened to the songs and some are new to me. When I listened to this one the line that stood out was “when the moon was holding water” just like you. That said the phrase meant something different to me as my grandfather used to use it when predicting the weather. When the moon was crescent and pointing upwards it was not going to rain as the moon acted as a bowl and could “hold the water”. I still use it to predict weather today.
I’ve just rediscovered Bone Machine.
Bliss!
What a sham... Tom waits did not write this song.
Excellent! :-)
I like Toms take on that song as well. Just a couple lines of Toms that have stood out to me have been "Halloween orange and chimney red" from 'Franks Wild Years', and "Bloody fingers on a purple knife" from 'Jockey Full Of Bourbon".
the moon holding water is an old expression that signifies a winter time phase of the moon when it's crescent shape and leaning on its back as if to hold water as the darken remaining sphere acts like liquid in a bowl.
Waits must have used it to define the cold time of the year not a common full moon.
Phantom 309 is one of the only songs Tom Waits recorded that he DID NOT write.
Tom Waits is a great songwriter but Phantom 309 was written by Tommy Faile
Yes, absolutely correct, I referenced Tommy Faile as the writer of this song in the show notes. It was Tom Wait's delivery and interpretation that brought my attention to the song but always important to acknowledge the source. Thanks Tomas
Exactly... omg
You got it. Red Sovine had a hit with it in 1967. I think Johnny Paycheck did a version of it. Not 100 on that, though..
I am wrong on Paycheck. Actually, Red Sovine recorded Colorado Cool-.Aid two years after Johnny Paycheck did. That is where I was confused. They both have that Sovine walking narrative.
@@josmotherman591 he's constantly telling us about the genius of Waits who knows how to use words, semantics, and syntax. Which I true, but not in this case. Pretty embarrassing.
@@marxtoll I was listening really close. But then that Heeyy.....Wait a minute??? moment hit. Then I thought "Seriously"?.... LOL!!
Peace.
The most impressive thing I could say about Tom Waits and his genius are the first 7 words of Jersey Girl: „Have no time for the corner boys“…
7 words. You now that the storyteller is rather poor than rich, that he lives in a city, rather not in a small village. You have a picture in mind about „corner boys“. You can see the scene in your mind. And then you ask yourself: Why don’t you have time for the corner boys? Tell me!
He’s like Goethe. Every teacher of literature would tell you that this is one of the best ever, if not the best opening of a novel. On par with Kafkas The Trial.
flowed like honey was a good example
Tom sure is a great songwriter. Somewher', California, Here I Come, King Kong, Danny Says and Bella Ciao are amazing songs!
Another way to get interesting images that I got from Jack Kerouac is to use nouns as adjectives eg "Deep in the truck stop night" or "Driven by the railroad rhythm".
Love it. Or Alan Ginsberg's knack for displacing an adjective: "smoking a restless cigarette". Such a good era ;)
@@htws T`was indeed.
The sun is shining, like honey across the land. Like water, for my dry mouth.
Cup of mud is an old expression that I heard long before I found TW. When he is writing about people from the decades before his childhood sometimes Tom uses expressions and vocabulary of those people and their times, ie coffee = mud and Joe.
See Tom Traubert’s Blues and many others that he wrote for examples of your point. TW neither invented “cup of mud” nor did he even write 309. I still like that y’all admire him, but do your homework especially for songwriters who grew up before you did. Thanks.
Tom Faile wrote the song a little upgrade from Waits, released by Red Sovine 1967, can’t say if Waits turned it into a classic
Why no talk of his wife Kathleen brennan? She writes all his lyrics with him and is his producer too.
Someone is finally giving Kathleen credit! "I hold the nail, she swings the hammer" is roughly how Tom Waits described that creative relationship.
I wonder if Tom Waits would have survived to 2022 without Kathleen's influence -- both creatively and as a spouse.
While what you say is true, they did only start there partnership midway into his career. I love the song Filipino box spring hog, “Kathleen was sitting down little red recovery room, in her criminal underwear bra. I was naked to the waist with my fierce black hound”
@3:23 ... This video?
Big Joe and Phantom 309 was a song written by Tommy Faile and released by Red Sovine in 1967. Tom Waits had nothing to do with it.
You're absolutely right... this was brought to my attention after we made and released the video... I had always just assumed it was a Waits original - and in that sense, what I learnt from the song came because of Tom Waits' interpretation and performance of the material (made even more special because it was recorded and released on a live album - 'Nighthawks at the Diner') - however all writing credit must of course go to Tommy Faile
@@htws Yeah. Tom has a way of owning completely everything he does.
His Waltzing Matilda interpretation coming out as Tom Traubert's Blues is a good example. That song is so full of powerful imagery, I can hear it, feel it, and see it.
Peace...
This reminds me of all the things I hated in school..
Wasn't written by Waits.
The fact that Tom Waits is not a full blown household name is absolutely insane to me. Decades of incredible, original, surprising, peerless work with tons of humour, theatrics and emotive immediacy to sweeten up his uber-cool experimentalism and uncompromising attitude, plus some strong forays into acting… I mean the ingredients are there to make him as well known and loved as Dylan or Bowie or any other of the rock n roll aristocracy. And yet in everyday society and culture it’s like he doesn’t exist (outside of hip alternative music aficionados where he is universally revered). Oh well, if you know, you know!
I love Waits too, tho I do get why he isn’t as big a name as those you mentioned, his persona and delivery are incredibly niche. He had to tour for years in small venues to make ends meet, and it was only when bigger artist like Springsteen, Rod Stewart and Joey Ramone covered his songs that he made any sort of real money from royalties. I read somewhere it was a lawsuit that he one against Frito Lays, that finally won him enough scratch that the pressure of touring was finally off him. His songwriting is genius tho, I guess lots of people can’t get past the voice which is why so many cover songs of his originally sold more than his own versions. A bit like Dylan really. I think he works more as a cult figure than some kinda mainstream pop artist. You know you’ve met someone cool if they’re a Waits fan.
@@thomasharris7881 I prefer to think I’ve met someone ‘normal’ when they’re a Tom Waits fan! But yeah, I don’t mind being cool 😎
Tom Waits is my favorite all time songwriter. Another excellent story teller is Harry Chapin, most remembered for his pop song Cat's in the Cradle which is sort of a shame because it obscures longer songs he wrote that had great visuals, they also often had sad ironies in them. I think Waits was able to take it to the next level and was more diverse with his music.
I've heard of Harry Chapin and know "Cats in the Cradle". Never listened to the rest of his work.. any recommendations for albums?
@@AunCollective Heads & Tails, Dance Band on the Titanic, Harry Chapin Greatest Stories Live, Legends of the Lost and Found.
@@clydemorgan1439 Thanks!
@@clydemorgan1439 I overlooked Harry Chapin for so many years because of Cats in the Cradle. Not a bad song, but just not interesting enough to make me want to dig into prior works. Great recommendations!
Reminds me of being encouraged to give Warren Zevon's catalogue a look. "Werewolves of London" is way more popular than the rest of his songs despite (in my opinion) not even being a top 5 song from Excitable Boy. Had I heard Mutineer, Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, Lawyers Guns & Money, Genuis, Excitable Boy, or any other song first -- I would have checked out the rest of his work much sooner.
I saw Peewee's big adventure way before I heard this great Tom Wait's tune. When I heard it I was like - THat's the Large Marge story! Anyway, many of Tom's songs influenced my own songwriting. You can do a LOT worse.
I'm still waiting to learn how Tom waits.
Haa...
Well wherever you are, whatever you're listening to....
Tom Waits
I hate to break it to you, but Tom Waits didn't write that song. It is a cover of "Phantom 309" with slightly reworked lyrics. But stuff like," thumbin my way back home" is directly from the Red Sovine version. I think you could have chosen a much better example from Waits. Swordfishtrombone for the storytelling, Pasties and a G String for the wordplay, Shake It for the very unusual style, etc.
"Well, he came home from the war
With a party in his head
And modified Brougham DeVille
And a pair of legs that opened up like butterfly wings
And a mad dog that wouldn't sit still
He went and took up with a Salvation Army band girl
Who played dirty water on a swordfishtrombone
He went to sleep at the bottom of Ten killer lake
And he said "gee, but it's great to be home"
That, coupled with the instrumental part, has stuck with me for a couple decades since I first heard it. So much imagery without being overly explicit or wordy.
My favorite songwriter. No one really comes close for me. Neil Young is pretty damn good tho, and so was Lou Reed
Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Bjork would be my 3, at least when it comes to interesting, well-written lyrics, interesting personas while performing, and unique music (that crosses genre boundaries).
The amount of quality music by Tom Waits, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, and Bjork is astounding.
Given your love of Tom Waits, let me recommend another American songwriter, less well known, but also an excellent lyricist: Tom Russell. Check out songs like Gaillo del Cielo, The Angel of Lyon, Blue Wing, and U.S. Steel.
Wasn't expecting country but I like it, thanks for the recommendation! I've been listening to a lot of Townes Van Zandt recently, another amazing songwriter.
@@theherbpuffer Townes, indeed!
Added a few albums to my list to check out. Fellow Tom Waits fans rarely disappoint with other music suggestions.
VERBS! YES!!!
Source: English teacher / novelist
Weird choice of Waits tune.
This story is based on a true event. A gasoline truck driver called Pete Trudell swerved his truck full of gas head on into a bridge support to avoid a stopped school bus full of children. The tank burst and ignited Pete burned but the kids all got out in time. Locals saw a phantom truck in that area on foggy nights. Pete became a local hero. This poem/narration to music about the accident changed Pete's name to Big Joe, Tom Waits added imagery and filled out the story. th-cam.com/video/STKNnitpNxM/w-d-xo.html
“Thumbing my way” is a cliché. Tom didn’t think of that.
Going out west is my shit
Tom says
without saying
i love these vids despite the doomer yoga vibes
You mean Tom Waits’s wife, right? Do some more research.. not trying to be mean, but on stage he is a well developed character and his wife has a VERY big roll in his development.
Of all the fantastic numbers tom waits wrote…he didnt write this one!! Its an old red sovine country number from the 60s…odd choice to pick this tune🤦♂️
Lol, Tom Waits is great but he didn’t write this. And when it was pointed out this guy doubles down and says it’s just a commentary on the interpretation. At the same time he goes into gushing about “Tom’s” choice of words multiple times (thumbing, the whole moon thing, etc…)
Tom Waits made a weird song? I'm offended!
Waits didn't write that song 😆
This isn’t even a Tom Waits song.
Tom Waits didn’t write this song
Tom Wait’s didn’t write that song
Talking about a song Waits didn't write is just plain lazy. Look at Potters Field,Burma Shave,Kentucky Avenue,the song Swordfishtrombones.The list goes on and on. If you're going to talk about great songwriters then please do some homework first. Please take this as constructive criticism and not slagging your otherwise fine channel.
Except he didn’t write it!!! Jeez.
Excellent! :-)
Thanks David, glad you're enjoying the content!