Tom Waits’ 1973 debut album, Closing Time, was the world’s introduction to the would-be musical master. The album presented to listeners a true artist in 12 tracks, a dozen songs that echoed with barroom wisdom, a stale beer buzz, and an unmatched song-telling that has followed Waits since.
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The release is boundless, dipping a toe in grubby folk, another in off-kilter jazz, and one more in unholy blues. With compositions that hit hard and lyrics that finish the job, it’s an album that is felt more than it’s heard. And fifty years after its release, we’ve revisited Closing Time, ranking the songs on Waits’ tour de force from worst to best.
12. “Lonely”
It’s difficult to dub one song from Closing Time as the “worst” because the entire album is one start-to-finish masterpiece, but one track has to take the last spot. “Lonely” is the album’s eighth track and is one of the sleepier offerings on the debut. However, the piano-led tune is stunning as Waits’ grumbling baritone gives life to his enchanting lyricism.
11. “Little Trip to Heaven (On The Wings Of Your Love)”
The album’s tenth track, “Little Trip to Heaven (On The Wings Of Your Love)” is a sweeping jazz-tinted lullaby. Romantic horns make love to enrapturing keys for one of the release’s most swoon-worthy compositions.
10. “Midnight Lullaby”
The lackadaisical “Midnight Lullaby” is another dazzling work on the album. Closing Time‘s fifth track, the song is a whimsically drowsy, jazz-flecked take on a traditional bedtime tune on which Waits croons, Sing a song of sixpence, pocket full of rye / Hush-a bye my baby, no need to be crying / You can burn the midnight oil with me as long as you will / Stare out at the moon upon the windowsill / And dream.
9. “Grapefruit Moon”
Dreamy and fanciful, the swelling “Grapefruit Moon” is a magical introduction to the musician Waits would become. The moving hum of the throat-tightening melody paired with the tender beauty of his uncontainable pen, “Grapefruit Moon” is proof of his otherworldly artistry and it only ranks at No. 9 on this list.
8. “Virginia Avenue”
On “Virginia Avenue,” the third track on the album, Waits masters dark and gloomy. The tune is swimming in a dark and desperate blues, its wailing horns the only reprieve from the song’s all-consuming gloom. Waits makes art out of drunkenly fumbled vocals.
7. “Ice Cream Man”
The at-first tip-toeing “Ice Cream Man” becomes a ferocious flurry of sound, erupting into a hefty swinging barroom ditty. Textured by emphatic keys, crying strings, and unrelenting drums, Waits passionately sings ‘Cause I’m your ice cream man / I’m a one-man band, yeah / I’m your ice cream man, honey, I’ll be good to you among the madness.
6. “Rosie”
The album’s seventh track, “Rosie,” is a gut punch. The melancholy tune is devastatingly beautiful with lyrics that have the ability to stop listeners in their tracks as Waits asks Rosie, why do you evade me? / Rosie, how can I persuade thee?
5. “Closing Time”
The album’s title and closing track kicks off with the artist grumbling, “Okay, let’s do one for posterity.” From there, the song has no words and it doesn’t need them. The brilliant instrumental encapsulates the entire album in its sparse horn, forlorn keys, and weepy strings.
4. “Martha”
“Martha,” Closing Time‘s sixth song, is a building hymn to old love and lost time. The tune is striking. Its casual, conversational lyrics are soul-stirring as its lonesome arrangement feeds the spirit for an overall life-changing work of art. And for it to be ranked at No. 4 speaks volumes about this album.
3. “Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)”
Coming to life in layers of loping strums, “Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)” is another punch to the gut. So goodbye, so long, the road calls me, dear, Waits resolutely sings, the blunt lyrics are heart-wrenching poetry paired with the song’s bare arrangement.
2. “Ol’ 55”
While it’s probably best known by the Eagles’ cover, “Ol’ 55” is a Waits masterpiece. The song is a near-perfect treasure, an enthralling composition of head-swimming piano, sparkling strings, and pensive drum hits. As Closing Time‘s opening track, the song introduced the world to a young artist who would be regarded today as one of music’s greatest.
1. “I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You”
On the album, “Ol’ 55” is immediately followed up by “I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You,” a sparse, but magical classic that has become synonymous with the album. And for good reason. “I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You” perfectly captures the debut, one rife with melancholy and trepidation, but above all, beauty, hope, and an understanding of life that could only come from the sage song-master.
(Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
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