Instrumentals

Closing Time (1973): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Fifth Floor Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1973. Official release: "Closing Time", Elektra Entertainment/ WEA International Inc., 1973.
- Barney Hoskyns (2008): “Recorded almost as an afterthought for Closing Time was the beautiful instrumental coda that shared its title. Cut on a Sunday at Western Recorders, "Closing Time" blended Waits' plangent piano chords with Tony Terran's wistful trumpet and the warm cello lines of Jesse Erlich. Unable to locate (bass player) Bill Plummer, (producer Jerry) Yester had to rely on somebody's recommendation of Arni Egilsson, who tore himself away from a barbecue, threw his double bass in the car, and made it to the session just in time. "That was absolutely the most magical session I've ever been involved with,' says Yester. "At the end of it, no one spoke for what felt like five minutes, either in the booth or out in the room. No one budged. Nobody wanted the moment to end." (Source: "Lowside Of The Road: A Life Of Tom Waits" by Barney Hoskyns. Faber/ Broadway, 2009)

In Shades (1980): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Fifth Floor Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1980 .Official release: "Heartattack And Vine", Elektra Entertainment/ WEA Entertainment Inc., 1980. Also released on "Downtown/ In Shades", 1980 (P) 1980 Asylum Records 12-522-EX-M. © 1980 Fifth Floor Music, Inc. (French promo single with studio version). Originally titled "Breakfast In Jail."
- Tom Waits (1980): "I always wanted to put out just a little straight R&B instrumental. Originally, it was titled "Breakfast In Jail." But we changed it." (Source: Heartattack And Vine, US Promo Pack, 1980).
- Tom Waits (1979): Q: Is "Breakfast In Jail" an autobiographical tune? Tom Waits: No, it's kind of a dance number. It's like DO the "Breakfast In Jail", you know?" (Source: WNEW-FM interview by Vin Scelsa. October 31, 1979).

The Tango (1982): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Warner Chapell Music Ltd. © 1982. Official release: "One From The Heart", Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (Columbia), 1982. Originally written for the soundtrack of "One From The Heart" (1982). Piano: Tom Waits; Tenor Sax: Gene Cipriano; Bass: Greg Cohen; Drums: Larry Bunker; Trumpet: Jack Sheldon. Live version (in the studio w. Greg Cohen on upright bass) recorded for "TF1 One From The Heart Reportage", French documentary for TF1. Los Angeles. January 5, 1982.
- Tom Waits (1982): Q: What about the tango music you wrote? How did you match that up with the dance sequence? Tom Waits: There were a lot of different arrangements of that music, but I was constantly working with a click track that had been nailed down early on. I had to work with the pace of the click track, so when the music was put against the dancing, everyone would be moving at the proper tempo. I thought they were dancing much to fast, but in order to change it, the whole scene would have to have been re-shot. And that's hard when the set has been torn down and a lot of the people have left town. I just thought, though, that the tango should have been slower, it would have made for a more seductive mood" (Source: "Tom Waits: Hollywood Confidential". BAM magazine (USA). By Dave Zimmer. Travelers' Cafe/ Echo Park. February 26, 1982).
- Tom Waits (1987): "I wrote my first tango. That's always a big moment." (Source: "Tom Waits Makes Good". Los Angeles Times (USA). By Robert Sabbag. February 22, 1987).

Circus Girl (1982): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Warner Chapell Music Ltd. © 1982. Official release: "One From The Heart", Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (Columbia), 1982. Originally written for the soundtrack of "One From The Heart" (1982). Tenor sax: Teddy Edwards; Trumpets: Jack Sheldon, Chuck Findley; Trombone: Dick Hyde; Tuba: Don Waldrop; Woodwinds: Lanny Morgan, John Lowe; Harmonica: Leslie Thompson; Bass: Greg Cohen; Accordion: Pete Jolly. Orchestra arranged by Tom Waits and conducted by Bob Alcivar.

Presents (1982): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Warner Chapell Music Ltd. © 1982. Official release: "One From The Heart", Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (Columbia), 1982. Originally written for the soundtrack of "One From The Heart" (1982). Celeste: Pete Jolly; Glockenspiel: Joe Porcaro; Harp: Gayle Levant; Bass: Greg Cohen. Arranged and conducted by Bob Alcivar.

Dave The Butcher (1983): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Jalma Music, admin. by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1983. Official release: "Swordfishtrombones", Island Records Inc., 1983.
- Tom Waits (1983): "Q: Did you have a specific character in mind when you wrote that particular piece? Tom Waits: Yeah. He was somebody we'd met. He had yellow hair, looked completely demented, wore a leopard collar made out of real leopard skin and he had two different kinds of shoes, he wore one boot and one Oxford. He worked at a butchery shop so I tried to imagine the music going on in his head while he was cutting up little pork loins." (Source: "Swordfish Out Of Water". Sounds magazine by Edwin Pouncey. November 5, 1983).
- Tom Waits (1983): "He works at a slaughterhouse in Ireland. He wore two different shoes, an Oxford and a boot and his house was filled with religious items and crucifixes and he worked at a butcher shop. I tried to imagine what was going on in his head while he was cutting up a little pork loin. I wrote everything very close together, all in about two weeks so the songs have a relationship - that's the one I wrote yesterday so today I'll hitch this one to that one so you usually try to leave an end of the one you wrote before open, so it can attach on to the one you're writing next, rather than just a random, arbitrary collection of tunes. I tried to get 'em to knit. It's not entirely successful as far as a libretto, it's just one guy who leaves the old neighbourhood and joins the Merchant Marines, gets in a little trouble in Hong Kong, comes home, marries the girl, burns his house down, and takes off on an adventure, that kind of a story." (Source: unidentified Swordfishtrombones Interview, 1983/ 1984).
Tom Waits (1983): "Q: What do you consider your best work? Tom Waits: I like the story in 'Burma Shave' off Foreign Affairs, 'Tom Traubert's Blues' off the new album. I like 'Dave The Butcher' and 'In The Neighborhood'." (Source: "One From The Heart & One For The Road". New Musical Express (UK), by Kristine McKenna. Wayne's Cafeteria, Los Angeles. October 1, 1983).
- Tom Waits (1983): "This is an instrumental piece. It's a... actually I tried to find gallopy. Was it possible? So, I ended up playing on the B-3 organ. Well I wanted that carnival feeling on it. Kind of a nightmare alley with Tyrone Power and John Blundell. Kind of a monkey on wood alcohol. It was originally inspired by a gentleman who did tremendous amounts of religious things in his house and worked at a slaughter house. I was trying to imagine what was going in his head while he cut up load of pork loin and got completely out of his mind with a meat cleaver. I don't think it's going to get a lot of airplay. Unless we put a nice vocal on it." (Source: "Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones". Island Promo interview. 1983).

Just Another Sucker On The Vine (1983): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Jalma Music, admin. by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1983. Official release: "Swordfishtrombones", Island Records Inc., 1983. Also included in the Big Time movie (intro, Island 1988).
- Tom Waits (1983): "Another instrumental. It's myself playing the harmonium and Joe Romano on trumpet. I tried to give a little 'Nino Rota'-feel to it. Kind of like a car running out of gas, you know, just before it makes the crest of a hill and it starts to roll back. And.. Alright. I tried to picture two Italian brothers in small circus arguing on the trapeze. One of them with a bottle of ten high and it's leotard. Doing the dozens on each other and throwing insults as they cross each other in the mid air. Or the feel of a band on the deck of Titanic as it slowly goes under. The title is really kind of a lyric to it, it's like you know... Actually I originally planned to write a lyric called: "It's more than rain that falls on our parade tonight". But I thought it was more effective as an instrumental and it also sets up "Frank's Wild Years". (Source: "A Conversation With Tom Waits". Island Records music industry white label 12" promo. September, 1983).

Rain Birds (1983): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Jalma Music, admin. by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1983. Official release: "Swordfishtrombones", Island Records Inc., 1983.
- Tom Waits (1983): "Is the final song on side two. It's myself at the piano and Greg Cohen on acoustic bass. It's a real pleasure to work with him. We have a mutual intuition and it's really good to hear him again. Francis Thumm helped me with glass harmonica introduction. It's kind of an epilogue to the story. After he floats down the stream on an old dead tree. It's kind of... you know...It's a morning you hear the birds and it starts to rain and he's off on another adventure somewhere. I wanted to close the side with an instrumental to give the hero room to breath. Yeah, that's all...the end." (Source: "A Conversation With Tom Waits". Island Records music industry white label 12" promo. September, 1983)
- Stephen Hodges (2007): "Greg [Cohen] was the jazz player and Larry Taylor the blues player. They both traded off some qualities, but Greg was the leader at playing a ballad. He was really the first one to really get in behind that thing, whereas Larry was always a little bit more like Willie Dixon." (Source: Stephen Hodges interview November 20, 2007 as quoted in “Lowside Of The Road: A Life Of Tom Waits" by Barney Hoskyns. Faber/ Broadway, 2009)

Midtown (1985): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 1985. Official release: "Rain Dogs", Island Records Inc., 1985.
- Tom Waits (1985): "Midtown is an instrumental, it's kind of what it's like to get stuck behind a van or when you thought you had a brilliant idea. You were gonna cross at 29th St and you were gonna hit West St and make it all the way up. You get behind a bakery truck and you're there for like a year." (Source: "A Conversation with Tom Waits (Rain Dogs)". Music industry white label 12" promo as sent to radio stations. 1985 (P) 1985 Island records Inc. PR 792).

Bride Of Rain Dogs (1985): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 1985. Official release: "Rain Dogs", Island Records Inc., 1985.
- Tom Waits (1985): "Bride of Rain Dogs is an instrumental rendering of the lead cut (Rain Dogs) there." (Source: "A Conversation with Tom Waits (Rain Dogs)". Music industry white label 12" promo as sent to radio stations. 1985 (P) 1985 Island records Inc. PR 792).

Serrano (1990): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Jalma Music Inc., © 1990, 1993. Official release: "Sylvia Plachy's Unguided Tour", Aperture 1990 (on the accompanying 1-track CD). Early version of "Russian Dance".

Let Me get Up On It (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 1992. Official release: "Bone Machine", Island Records Inc., 1992. Tom Waits: vocal (free-form singing), percussion.

Los Angeles Mood - Chromium Descensions (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

Los Angeles Theme - Another Private Dick (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

New York Theme - Hey, You Can Have That Heartattack Outside Buddy (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

New York Mood - A New Haircut And A Busted Lip (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

Baby I'm Not A Baby Anymore - Beatrice Theme (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

Carnival - Brunello Del Montalcino (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

Good Old World - Gypsy Instrumental (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

Paris Mood - Au De Fromage (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

Dragging A Dead Priest (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.
- Clark Suprynowicz (2008): "It was five minutes of really spooky, meandering music. When we finished it I said to Tom, 'Hey, we could get a grant with this!' He was hip enough to the art world to get a laugh out of that.” (Source: Clark Suprynowicz interview February 7, 2008 as quoted in “Lowside Of The Road: A Life Of Tom Waits" by Barney Hoskyns. Faber/ Broadway, 2009)

Helsinki Mood (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

Carnival - Bob's Confession (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

On The Other Side Of The World - Instrumental (1992): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP) administered by Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1991. Official release: "Night On Earth", Island Records Inc., 1992. Originally written for the soundtrack of "Night On Earth" (1991). Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm.

Untitled instrumental tracks 15-24 - Alice Demos (1999): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan, 1992. Unofficial release: "Alice, The Original Demos", 1999. Demo recordings, recorded in Hamburg, Germany, 1992 for the theatre play "Alice".

Black Box Theme (1993): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Jalma Music Inc., © 1990, 1993. Official release: "The Black Rider", Island Records Inc., 1993. Originally written for the theatre play "The Black Rider", prologue and scene 10 (1990).

Russian Dance (1993): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Jalma Music Inc., © 1990, 1993. Official release: "The Black Rider", Island Records Inc., 1993. Originally written for the theatre play "The Black Rider" (1990). Intermission with Pegleg and Wilhelm doubles doing a dance in front of the stage screen, scene 9.

Gospel Train - Orchestra (1993): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Jalma Music Inc., © 1990, 1993. Official release: "The Black Rider", Island Records Inc., 1993. Originally written for the theatre play "The Black Rider" (1990).
- Mark Richard (1994): "At 1:00 a.m. we listen to the "Gospel Train" tape, a problematic piece for a formal orchestra. Dawes asks Waits if he wants to lay in a train whistle track, and Waits says no, that he had given the orchestra such a big talk about them being a train, and they tried so hard playing to be a train that to add a train whistle right now might make them feel impotent. But he would like for Dawes to make the cut have the feel of a Bahia slave galley leaving the Amazon loaded with molasses and sugar cane. "Right," says Dawes." (Source: "The Music Of Chance". Spin magazine (USA), by Mark Richard. Ca. June, 1994).

Carnival (1993): Written by Tom Waits. Published by Jalma Music Inc., © 1990, 1993. Official release: "The Black Rider", Island Records Inc., 1993. Originally written for the theatre play "The Black Rider" (1990), scene 2 and scene 4.

Fawn (2002): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 1992/ 2002. Official release: "Alice", Epitaph/ Anti Inc., 2002. Tom Waits: Piano; Matthew Sperry: Bass; Gino Robair: Marimba; Colin Stetson: Bass Clarinet; Karla Kihlstedt: Violin.

Knife Chase (2002): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 2000. Official release: "Blood Money", Epitaph/ Anti Inc., 2002. Tom Waits: Piano; Larry Taylor: Bass/ Electric Guitar; Myles Boisen: Guitar; Bebe Risenfors: Sax/ Bass Clarinet; Casey Waits: Drums; Bent Clausen: Bass Drums; Ara Anderson: Trumpet; Colin Stetson: Sax. Originally written for the theatre play "Woyzeck" (2000) played in act 2, scene 1 & scene 2.

Calliope (2002): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 2000. Official release: "Blood Money", Epitaph/ Anti Inc., 2002. Tom Waits: Calliope/ Toy Piano; Nik Phelps: Trumpet.
- Tom Waits (2002): "Q: Where does one buy a pneumatic calliope, with 57 whistles? Tom Waits: In Iowa, actually," Waits says. "Back of a flatbed truck. It was a small, red-suspender band, their sleeves held up with elastic, wearing straw hats. Greg Cohen, who's married to my wife's sister and has been my bass player for many years, asks if it's for sale. `Absolutely.' So he gives me the phone number. Says his wife would kill him if he purchased a calliope. So he decided to let my wife kill me, instead. I paid 2 grand for it, and it needed work. It's just like buying a used car . . . a background in car repair would be more advantageous than a background in music in working with it, because it's all hoses and pipes. It took four guys to carry it . . . when we played it in the studio, people for miles around complained of the noise." (Source: "2 Albums At Once? That's Waits' Way". Chicago Tribune (USA) May 5, 2002 by Greg Kot).
- Tom Waits (2002): "Q: So, did that calliope have a volume control? Tom Waits: "No it does not. It's pneumatic, it's ear-bleeding loud. Greg found it. ... He gave me the number and told me to buy it. It took six guys to pick it up put it in the back of an El Camino. Don't ask why, but for some reason all these calliope people live in Iowa--there's a whole coven of calliope people. They congregate like circus people who have settled in Tampa, Flo. ... But [the calliope] is very loud, it's designed to be heard from five miles away. So if you can imagine that, but you're sitting next to it." (Source: "Blood on the looking glass" Chico News and Review (USA) by Dan Cohen. Published: May 7, 2002).
- Tom Waits (2002): "Q: Where did he get it? Tom Waits: All these calliope guys live in Iowa, for some reason," he says, "and they're a grumpy group. If you don't know your calliopes, they want nothing to do with you. I made the mistake of describing the whistles as 'pipes' -- and the guy hung up on me!" (Source: "A double shot of Waits Globe and Mail (Canada) by Carl Wilson. Published: May 7, 2002).
- Tom Waits (2002): "Playing a calliope is an _experience_. There's an old expression, 'Never let your daughter marry a calliope player.' Because they're all out of their _minds_. Because the calliope is so flaming _loud_. Louder than a bagpipe. In the old days, they used them to announce the arrival of the circus because you could literally hear it three miles away. Imagine something you could hear three miles away, and now you're right in front of it, in a studio...playing it like a piano, and your face is red, you're hair is sticking up, you're sweating. You could scream and nobody could hear you. It's probably the most visceral music experience I've ever had. And when you're done, you feel like you should probably should go to the doctor. Just check me over, Doc, I did a couple of numbers on the calliope and I want you to take me through the paces." (Source: "Play It Like Your Hair's On Fire" GQ magazine (USA) by Elizabeth Gilbert. June 2002. Published: May 2002).
- Tom Waits (2002): "Q: You have a legendary love for exotic instruments, yet I'm still surprised you managed to incorporate something as unwieldy as a 1929 pneumatic calliope, which sounds merry and haunted at the same time. Tom Waits: "It's ear-bleeding loud. It has all these pipes that look like radiator hoses. If you call the whistles "pipes," by the way, a calliope player will hang up on you. I loved it. You can scream when you're playing it and not be heard. I'd like to see more of it in popular music." (Source: "I hope more people misunderstand me" USA Today (USA), by Edna Gundersen. Published: June 17, 2002).

Bone Chain (2006): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 2006. Official release: "Orphans (Brawlers)", Anti Inc. Recorded at Prairie Sun Recording studios. Cotati, CA/ USA, 2006.

Redrum (2006): Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan. Published by Jalma Music (ASCAP), © 2006. Official release: "Orphans (Brawlers)", Anti Inc. Recorded at Prairie Sun Recording studios. Cotati, CA/ USA, 2006. Originally written for the theatre play "Woyzeck" (2000).