Tom Waits Asks You To Embrace His Orphans

Tom Waits has built up a pretty eclectic catalogue of music over his 35-year recording career, and 54 rare and previously unreleased songs will be packaged together in a three-disc set titled Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers And Bastards that will come out on November 21 via Anti.

"Orphans [contains] rough and tender tunes," Waits says of the collection on the Anti website. "Rumbas about mermaids, shuffles about train wrecks, tarantellas about insects, madrigals about drowning.

"Scared, mean, orphaned songs of rapture and melancholy. Songs that grew up hard. Songs of dubious origin rescued from cruel fate and now left wanting only to be cared for. Show that you are not afraid and take them home. They don't bite, they just need attention."

There are 30 new songs, and the total package adds up to more than three hours of music. A 94-page booklet will also be included.

Each CD is themed and titled separately. Brawlers is full of raucous blues and full-throated juke joint stompers. Bawlers features Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies and piano-based songs. Bastards offers more experimental music and "strange tales."

In addition to singing, Waits played guitar, keyboards, percussion and pump organ on Orphans. A long list of guest musicians contributed to the project, including guitarists Marc Ribot, Dave Alvin and Brett Gurewitz, bassists Les Claypool and Trevor Horn, and harmonica players Charlie Musselwhite and John Hammond. Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous played guitar, drums and bass.

Orphans features a number of songs that were originally recorded for films, the theatre or other projects. Waits also covers material from a diverse group of artists, including The Ramones, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, Leadbelly, Jack Kerouac and Charles Bukowski.Waits, who recently completed a short U.S. tour that included his first club show in almost 30 years, produced the album along with his wife and longtime collaborator, Kathleen Brennan.

The gruff-voiced, somewhat eccentric Waits has released more than 20 albums and won two Grammy Awards among numerous other accolades. Along with Brennan, they placed fourth in Paste magazine's list of the 100 best living songwriters.

Here are the songs on Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers And Bastards:

Brawlers:
"Lie To Me”
“LowDown”
“2:19”
“Fish In The Jailhouse”
“Bottom Of The World”
“Lucinda”
“Ain't Goin' Down To The Well”
“Lord I've Been Changed”
“Puttin' On The Dog”
“Road To Peace”
“All The Time”
“The Return Of Jackie And Judy”
“Walk Away”
“Sea Of Love”
“Buzz Fledderjohn”
“Rains On Me"

Bawlers:
"Bend Down The Branches”
“You Can Never Hold Back Spring”
“Long Way Home”
“Widow's Grove”
“Little Drop Of Poison”
“Shiny Things”
“World Keeps Turning”
“Tell It To Me”
“Never Let Go”
“Fannin Street”
“Little Man”
“It's Over”
“If I Have To Go”
“Goodnight Irene”
“The Fall Of Troy”
“Take Care Of All My Children”
“Down There By The Train”
“Danny Says”
“Jayne's Blue Wish”
“Young At Heart"

Bastards:
"What Keeps Mankind Alive”
“Children's Story”
“Heigh Ho”
“Army Ants”
“Books Of Moses”
“Bone Chain”
“Two Sisters”
“First Kiss”
“Dog Door”
“Redrum”
“Nirvana”
“Home I'll Never Be”
“Poor Little Lamb”
“Altar Boy”
“The Pontiac”
“Spidey's Wild Ride”
“King Kong”
“On The Road"