October 19, 2011 18:59

Tom Waits: ‘Songs are pretty easy’

The cult songwriter also speaks about working with Keith Richards on new album ‘Bad As Me’

Photo: Press

Tom Waits has spoken out during the week before the official release of his new album ‘Bad As Me’ to say that the process of writing a song is "easy".

In an interview with Pitchfork, the 61-year-old singer also compared songs to bagels. He said:

Songs are pretty easy. They are small, they are modular, they are about as big as a bagel. They are easy to build.

He continued: “Films are overwhelming in their magnitude and scope. By comparison, a lot of film directors wish they were writing songs because you can do it while getting your hair cut.”

Waits releases ‘Bad As Me’ on October 24. The album features guest guitar from The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. “I was talking to the record company and they say, "Any guests you want on the record?" And I said, "What about Keith Richards?" I was just joking, but somebody went ahead and called him,” explained Waits. “And then he said, 'Yeah.' And I said, 'Now we're really in trouble.'"

“I was really nervous. He [Richards] came with about 600 guitars in a semi-truck. And a butler. We were in these huge studios in New York, like The Poseidon Adventure. Huge, high ceilings in these rooms like football fields. They'd fill these things up with orchestras and we were in there with five guys. It felt a little weird. He killed me. I was really knocked out that he played on all those things.”

Tom Waits is currently streaming 'Bad As Me' online ahead of its official release date until October 21. Sign up to listen to the album at badasme.com. Each unique code to listen to the 13-track record comes with five extra codes to share.

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