Tom Waits is an exemplary songwriter, but he hasn’t always done it alone. For decades, Kathleen Brennan has not only been his partner in life but she’s also been his songwriting partner, helping him craft some of his most noteworthy songs. In fact, it would be wrong to mention one without the other.
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“Kathleen was the first person who convinced me that you can take James White and the Blacks, and Elmer Bernstein and Leadbelly – folks that could never be on the bill together – and that they could be on the bill together in you,” Waits once said of his wife and co-creator (quote via Far Out Magazine). He credits Brennan as the person who inspired him to explore his sound, and in doing so, push boundaries. “You take your dad’s army uniform and your mom’s Easter hat and your brother’s motorcycle and your sister’s purse and stitch them all together and try to make something meaningful out of it,” he added.
The two have been constant collaborators as they’ve brought innumerable songs for Waits and others to life. Here are five of Waits’ classics that you may not have known he wrote with his wife Kathleen Brennan.
1. “Hang Down Your Head” – Tom Waits (1985)
Written by Kathleen Brennan and Tom Waits
Hang down your head for sorrow / Hang down your head for me / Hang down your head tomorrow / Hang down your head, Marie, Waits wails in his 1985 tune “Hang Down Your Head.”
From his acclaimed album Rain Dogs, the off-kilter folk rocker “Hang Down Your Head” was a joint effort from the husband-wife duo. Rain Dogs is one of the first of Waits’ albums that sees contributions from Brennan and it’s difficult to spot a release since that hasn’t seen her touch.
2. “Come On Up to the House” – Tom Waits (1999)
Written by Kathleen Brennan and Tom Waits
Well, the moon is broken and the sky is cracked / Come on up to the house / The only things that you can see is all that you lack / Come on up to the house, Waits gargles out in his enrapturing “Come On Up to the House.”
The 1999 tune from his album Mule Variations is among the most striking of his catalog, something that is partially thanks to Brennan.
3. “Alice ” – Tom Waits (2002)
Written by Kathleen Brennan and Tom Waits
A murder of silhouette crows I saw / And the tears on my face / And the skates on the pond / They spell Alice, sings Waits in his jazz-flecked “Alice.”
From the 2002 album of the same name, “Alice” was co-written and co-produced by the masterful pair, resulting in a beautifully chilling narrative that not only spews the trademark Waits-isms but is most likely also rife with Brennan’s influence.
4. “Back in the Crowd” – Tom Waits (2011)
Written by Kathleen Brennan and Tom Waits
If you don’t want these arms to hold you / If you don’t want these lips to kiss you / If you’ve found someone new / Put me back in the crowd, Waits huskily croons in the 2011 tune “Back in the Crowd.”
From his album Bad as Me, the Latin-textured song is a more subdued offering from the couple, but a deeply striking work all the same.
5. “Bad as Me” – Tom Waits (2011)
Written by Kathleen Brennan and Tom Waits
You’re the head on the spear / You’re the nail on the cross / You’re the fly in my beer / You’re the key that got lost / You’re the letter from Jesus / On the bathroom wall / You’re mother superior in only a bra / You’re the same, you’re the same / You’re the same kind of bad as me, the artist croaks in his eccentric bop “Bad as Me.”
From the album of the same name, the delightfully unnerving experimental rock aria is a product of the Waits-Brennan songwriting genius, a genius that truly made something meaningful out of “your dad’s army uniform and your mom’s Easter hat and your brother’s motorcycle and your sister’s purse.”
(Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
