Old Shoes - Tom Waits
Song of the Day #30
Apple Music link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/old-shoes-picture-postcards/1485071375?i=1485071441
I swear, there is no title more perfect for this collection of songs than Closing Time. Each piece has this exquisite sense of finality, where you can imagine Tom sitting in the piano bar laying it bare before the audience at midnight hour. By mixing a lonesome bluesy introspective feel with jazzy refinement, he created the ideal "end-of-year reminiscing" album, which is why I always play this one late at night on the last days of the year.
So, it was inevitable I was going to write about at least one song from this record this December, but instead of choosing "Grapefruit Moon" (my favorite song of his) or "Ol' 55" (made famous by the Eagles' butchering of the song), I settled for this lovely country-tinged gem. It's a bit of an oddball on the album, being an uplifting anthem displaying his folksy roots more obviously than any other from here. Yet, I've always loved it because of how beautifully it complements the overall mood. Closing Time is about bittersweet contemplation and sorting out his feelings, whether it be about a past lost love ("Martha") or frigid loneliness ("Lonely"). "Old Shoes" isn't like this at all: Tom acknowledges his regrets and painful memories, but he comes to terms with his reality and gets himself to move past them.
Many songs touch on this theme, but unlike so many of them, this one is cognizant that moving on isn't easy. It can be a tough journey of remembering all that has to be left behind, but the grit and conviction of its spirit are enough proof that making it through is worth it. It's one of those truly soul-healing songs that can give hope to the most hopeless, and the fact that it made it onto this type of album only adds greater complexity to Tom's artistic persona. If you're feeling anxious about the end of a certain period of your life, be sure to not only hear this song but also all the songs that surround it. It will help, take my word for it.
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