Editing Tom Waits (section)

==Reception and legacy==
Bowman writes that "At the dawn of the second decade of the 21st century, Waits’s influence can be seen in the work of many of the most forward-thinking contemporary artists, including [[Beck]], [[PJ Harvey]], and [[Radiohead]]’s [[Thom Yorke]].”{{Sfn|Bowman}} Other musicians who have expressed admiration for Waits's work include [[Elvis Costello]],{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=178}} [[Bruce Springsteen]],{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=178}} [[Nanci Griffith]],{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=178}} [[Joe Strummer]] of [[the Clash]],{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=88}} [[Michael Stipe]] of [[R.E.M.]],{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=178}} [[Frank Black]] of [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]]{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=224}} and [[James Hetfield]] of [[Metallica]].{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=88}} [[Bob Dylan]], a major influence on the young Waits, called Waits one of his "secret heroes".{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=489}} Humphries described him as "one of America's finest post-Dylan singer-songwriters" and, along with [[Edward Hopper]], "one of the two great depicters of American isolation."{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=142}} Hoskyns called him "as important an American artist as anyone the twentieth century has produced."{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=xxv}}{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=4}} He notes that by the end of the twentieth century, "Waits was an iconic alternative figure, not just to the fans who'd grown up with him but to subsequent generations of music geeks",{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=434}} coming to be "universally acknowledged as an elder statesman of 'alternative' rock.'"{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=470}} Karen Schoemer of ''[[Newsweek]]'' said that "to the postboomer generation, he's more Dylan than Dylan. [His] melting-pot approach to [[Americana (music)|Americana]], his brilliant narratives and his hardiness against commercial trends have made him the ultimate icon for the alternative-minded."{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=434}} [[Steve Vai]] said: "Tom Waits is my favorite artist now. I completely resonate deeply with his music, his voice and his lyrics; I buy everything he ever does. He's one of those guys who are totally at one with the creative element with no excuses or concerns about what's going on around him – totally uncompromising."<ref>{{cite web | url= https://thequietus.com/articles/09530-steve-vai-favourite-albums?page=7 | title= A Baker's Dozen: Steve Vai's 13 Favourite Albums Revealed| work=The Quietus|first=Mark |last=Eglinton| date= July 31, 2012 | access-date= August 5, 2020}}</ref> When asked which song she wished she had written, [[Florence Welch]] of [[Florence and the Machine]] said: “‘Green Grass’ by Tom Waits.... Really, anything by Tom Waits. I wish I was Tom Waits. His songs are so visceral and bloody. I just love his use of imagery."<ref>{{cite news| last=Taysom| first=Joe| title=The one song Florence Welch wishes she wrote| date=August 28, 2021| work=Far Out| url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/song-florence-welch-wishes-she-wrote/}}</ref> [[Bones Howe]] says: "I do a lot of seminars. Occasionally I'll do something for songwriters. They all say the same thing to me. 'All the great lyrics are done.' And I say, 'I'm going to give you a lyric that you never heard before'", the following from "[[Tom Traubert's Blues]]": "A battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace / And a wound that will never heal." Howe calls this "the work of an extremely talented lyricist, poet, whatever you want to say. That is brilliant, brilliant work. And he never mentions the person, but you see the person."<ref>{{cite book|last=Jacobs|first=Jay S.|title=Wild Years: The Music and Myth of Tom Waits|year=2006|publisher=[[ECW Press]]|isbn=9781550227161|pages=73–74}}</ref>

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| quote = I've seen him standing in a bunch of dust, and I thought I saw sparkly things coming off of him. I looked at him when he was singing and I said, "Is my vision going? I'm seeing three, maybe four people up there?" And they all seem to be waiting for the other one to finish so that they come in. And then this other one would just ''whistle'' at me. And then one would speak in a kind of speaking-in-tongues kind of voice. And then The Eagles covered it.| source=—[[Neil Young]], inducting Waits into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]], 2011<ref name="Induction"/>
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Various artists have covered his songs. In 1973, [[Tim Buckley]] covered "Martha", just like [[Meat Loaf]] did in 1995. [[The Eagles]] covered "[[Ol' 55]]" and [[Dion DiMucci|Dion]] covered "Heart of Saturday Night" and "San Diego Serenade".<ref>{{cite book| title=The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll| year=2001| page=1041}}</ref> [[Rod Stewart]] had success with covers of "[[Downtown Train]]" and "Tom Traubert's Blues";{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=221}} [[Bob Seger]] covered "Blind Love", "New Coat of Paint", and "Downtown Train".{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=221|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=470}}{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=223}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Graff |first1=Gary |title=Bob Seger to Debut 'Downtown Train' Single Monday |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/472855/bob-seger-to-debut-downtown-train-single-monday |website=Billboard.com |date=February 27, 2011 |access-date=January 1, 2020}}</ref> [[Paul Young]] covered "Soldier's Things" on ''[[The Secret of Association]]'' (1985) and the [[Ramones]] covered "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" on their final album, ''[[¡Adios Amigos!]]'' (1995).{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=226}} [[Johnny Cash]] sang "Down There by the Train", which Waits wrote for him, on [[American Recordings (album)|''American Recordings'']] (1994), calling Waits "a very special writer, my kind of writer."{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=227|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=411}} [[Tori Amos]] covered [[Time (Tom Waits song)|"Time"]] on ''[[Strange Little Girls]]'' (2001); she performed it on the ''[[Late Show With David Letterman]]'', the first musical performance on the show after [[9/11]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://thedent.com/letterman0901.html| title=The Late Show with David Letterman - Sept 18, 2001}}</ref> [[Willie Nelson]] covered "Picture in a Frame" on ''[[It Always Will Be]]'' (2004). [[Holly Cole]] released an album of Waits covers, [[Temptation (Holly Cole album)|''Temptation'']] (1995),{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=225|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=411}} as did [[Scarlett Johansson]] with ''[[Anywhere I Lay My Head]]'' (2008).{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=490}} [[Neko Case]] performed "[[Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis]]" on the tribute album ''[[New Coat of Paint]]'' (2000).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sullivan|first=Denise|title=Tom Waits: Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/christmas-card-from-a-hooker-in-minneapolis-mt0029143376|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026092816/https://www.allmusic.com/song/christmas-card-from-a-hooker-in-minneapolis-mt0029143376|archive-date=2021-10-26|access-date=2021-12-10|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> [[Norah Jones]] included a song Waits wrote for her, "Long Way Home", on her album [[Feels Like Home (Norah Jones album)|''Feels Like Home'']] (2004).{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=223}}{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=306}} [[Joan Baez]] covered his songs on [[Day After Tomorrow (Joan Baez album)|''Day After Tomorrow'']] (2008) and [[Whistle Down the Wind (album)|''Whistle Down the Wind'']] (2018). [[Rosanne Cash]], [[Aimee Mann]], [[Phoebe Bridgers]] and others contributed to ''[[Come On Up to the House: Women Sing Waits]]'' (2019).<ref>{{cite news| title=Album Review: 'Come On Up to the House: Women Sing Waits| last=Parker| first=Chris| work=Variety| url=https://variety.com/2019/music/album-reviews/come-on-up-to-the-house-women-sing-tom-waits-tribute-album-review-1203413149/}}</ref>

He was included on [[Rolling Stone (magazine)|''Rolling Stone'']]'s lists of 100 Greatest Singers<ref>{{cite magazine|title=100 Greatest Singers of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=June 10, 2015|archive-date=April 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429022814/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time|100 Greatest Songwriters]]. In 2006, Waits and Brennan were ranked fourth on [[Paste (magazine)|''Paste'']]'s list of the hundred greatest living songwriters.<ref>{{cite news| title=Paste's 100 Best Living Songwriters| work=Paste| date=January 8, 2006| url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/pastes-100-best-living-songwriters-the-list}}</ref> In 2016, Waits and Brennan, along with [[John Prine]], were honored with [[List of PEN literary awards#PEN New England (today PEN America Boston)|The Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award]] from [[List of PEN literary awards#PEN New England (today PEN America Boston)|PEN New England]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Tom Waits, Wife Kathleen Brennan and John Prine to Be Honored With Songwriting Award |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/tom-waits-john-prine-song-lyrics-literary-excellence-awards-7511287/#! |access-date=4 December 2022 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=September 19, 2016}}</ref> [[Colum McCann]] presented the honor to Waits and Brennan, saying “They find out what others have not quite fathomed yet. They catch the ordinary so that it can be sung extraordinarily in the future.”<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marcelo |first1=Philip |title=Tom Waits, John Prine, Kathleen Brennan Receive Songwriting Awards |url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/12095101/tom-waits-john-prine-kathleen-brennan-receive-songwriting-awards |access-date=4 December 2022 |work=[[KQED Inc.|KQED]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=September 20, 2016}}</ref>

Waits has influenced artists in other fields. [[Kazuo Ishiguro]] recalls how Waits influenced his novel ''[[The Remains of the Day]]'':<blockquote> I thought I’d finished ''Remains'', but then one evening heard Tom Waits singing his song "Ruby’s Arms". It’s a ballad about a soldier leaving his lover sleeping in the early hours to go away on a train. Nothing unusual in that. But the song is sung in the voice of a rough American hobo type utterly unaccustomed to wearing his emotions on his sleeve. And there comes a moment, when the singer declares his heart is breaking, that’s almost unbearably moving because of the tension between the sentiment itself and the huge resistance that’s obviously been overcome to utter it. Waits sings the line with cathartic magnificence, and you feel a lifetime of tough-guy stoicism crumbling in the face of overwhelming sadness. I heard this and reversed a decision I’d made, that Stevens would remain emotionally buttoned up right to the bitter end. I decided that at just one point – which I’d have to choose very carefully – his rigid defence would crack, and a hitherto concealed tragic romanticism would be glimpsed.<ref>{{cite news| last=Ishiguro| first=Kazuo| author-link=Kazuo Ishiguro| date=December 6, 2014| title=Kazuo Ishiguro: how I wrote The Remains of the Day in four weeks| work=[[The Guardian]]| url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/06/kazuo-ishiguro-the-remains-of-the-day-guardian-book-club}}</ref></blockquote>

Another author who notes Waits's influence is [[Ian Rankin]]:<blockquote>I already knew Tom Waits’s music, those soulful communications from the louche underbelly of the American dream, but nothing had prepared me for ''[[Swordfishtrombones]].'' I first heard it on a friend’s stereo system, the pair of us transfixed by what was happening in front of our ears. It felt to me as if a vaudeville show was taking place in a scrapyard, the music whirling and clanging, Waits presiding over it all like a bruised but keen-eyed master of ceremonies. ''[[Rain Dogs]]'' added extra textures and refinements, laying its (marked) cards on the table with its opening track, "Singapore", a novel contained within two and a half minutes of controlled musical mayhem. By the time of its release I had left university and was trying to shape myself into a writer. I admired Waits’s lyrical vision and concision – the man was a born storyteller, stopping travellers who had wandered into the wrong part of town and compelling them with his words.<ref>{{cite news| last=Adams| first=Tim| title='All these bulletproof songs, one after another': remembering Tom Waits' extraordinary mid-career trilogy| work=[[The Guardian]]| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/20/tom-waits-frank-trilogy-reissues-swordfishtrombones-rain-dogs-franks-wild-years}}</ref></blockquote>

His songs have been used in film, television and theater. When the actor [[Robert Carlyle]] formed a theatre, he named it the Rain Dog Theatre after Waits's album.{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=224}} [[Cabaret]] shows have been set to his songs, among them Robert Berdahl's ''Warm Beer, Cold Women'' and Stewart D'Arrietta's ''Belly of a Drunken Piano''.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=470}} In addition to scoring films for Bell, Coppola and Jarmusch, Waits has written songs for soundtracks: "Never Let Go" for [[American Heart (film)|''American Heart'']]; "Walk Away" and "The Fall of Troy" for [[Dead Man Walking (film)|''Dead Man Walking'']] and "Little Drop of Poison" for ''[[The End of Violence]]'', which later appeared in ''[[Shrek 2]]''. "Temptation" and "Cold Cold Ground" appear in ''[[Léolo]]''; [[Innocent When You Dream (song)|"Innocent When You Dream"]] in [[Smoke (film)|''Smoke'']]; "Goin' Out West" in ''[[Fight Club]]'';<ref>{{cite web|title=Fight Club Soundtrack Guide: Every Song & When They Play| website=[[Screen Rant]]| date=March 14, 2023| url=https://screenrant.com/every-song-in-fight-club-movie/}}</ref> "All The World is Green" and "Green Grass" in [[The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (film)|''The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'']].{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=448}} ''[[Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room]]'' features "What's He Building?", "Straight to the Top (Vegas)", "Temptation" and "God's Away on Business".<ref>{{cite web| title=Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) - Soundtracks - IMDb| website=[[IMDb]]| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/soundtrack/}}</ref> The titles of the films ''[[Romeo Is Bleeding]]'' and ''[[Blue Valentine (film)|Blue Valentine]]'' are derived from Waits songs. "Hold On" and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" were sung by [[Beth Greene]] ([[Emily Kinney]]) in ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]'' episodes "[[I Ain't a Judas]]" and "[[Infected (The Walking Dead)|Infected]]", respectively.<ref>{{cite web | first=Evan|last=Schlansky | title=Walking Dead Producer Loves Bob Dylan, Tom Waits | url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/2013/02/walking-dead-producer-loves-bob-dylan-tom-waits/ | work=[[American Songwriter]] | date=February 25, 2013 | access-date=November 7, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | first=Scott|last=Johnson | title=The Walking Dead: What Song Does Beth Sing To Baby Judith? | url=https://comicbook.com/blog/2013/10/20/the-walking-dead-what-song-does-beth-sing-to-baby-judith/ | work=Comicbook.com | date=October 20, 2013 | access-date=November 7, 2013}}</ref> ''[[The Wire]]'' used "[[Way Down in the Hole]]" as its opening theme; each season featured a different rendition, including [[the Blind Boys of Alabama]], Waits, [[the Neville Brothers]], DoMaJe and [[Steve Earle]]. The season four rendition was arranged and recorded for the show and is performed by five Baltimore teenagers: Ivan Ashford, Markel Steele, Cameron Brown, Tariq Al-Sabir and Avery Bargasse.<ref>{{cite web |year=2006 |title=''The Wire'' on HBO: Play Or Get Played, Exclusive Q&A With David Simon (page 16) |access-date=October 17, 2007 |url=http://www.borderline-productions.com/TheWireHBO/exclusive-16.html}}</ref> In 2014, [[Aaron Posner]] and the magician [[Teller (magician)|Teller]] directed a production of [[William Shakespeare| Shakespeare]]'s ''[[The Tempest]]'' featuring songs by Waits and Brennan.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.chicagoshakes.com/plays_and_events/tempest/Tom_Waits| title=Tom Waits: Chicago Shakespeare Theater| date=November 8, 2015| access-date=January 4, 2017| first=Tim| last=Scherman}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Hotchman| first=David| title=Teller and Tom Waits Conjure a Must-See 'Tempest| date=September 13, 2014| url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhochman/2014/09/13/teller-and-tom-waits-conjure-a-must-see-tempest/?sh=2116f3b86113| work=[[Forbes]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Wren| first=Celia| title=At Round House Theatre, a magical 'Tempest'| date=November 29, 2022| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/11/29/round-house-the-tempest/}}</ref>