A recent Pogues tribute album is very good, and you should definitely check it out after listening to the entire catalog of the Irish band first. The Pogues deserve that, but just as they deserve many excellent artists doing covers of their songs on 20th Century Paddy - Songs of Shane MacGowan.
One of those covers is from Tom Waits, performing "Summer in Siam," from the Pogues' 1990 album, Hell's Ditch. The name of that record tells you a lot about what you need to know about the late MacGowan's band: The songs can be sad and bleak, but they also come with an Irish wit.
Waits isn't Irish, of course, but the American has sonic sensibilities in common with the Pogues. His and the band's tunes have a way of carrying the listener to a different sphere. They are folky and artistic, and more emotionally complex than anyone should expect.
Tom Waits' Pogues tribute is touching and tender
This is exactly what Waits' cover of "Summer in Siam" exposes. The song begins with light instrumentation while Waits hums over the top. The entire opening has a churchy feel. It is unlike the more jazzy Pogues version and completely dismisses the happy overtones. Waits' depth won't allow for that, while at the same time honoring everything MacGowan did.
The track feels as if it was recorded while Waits is sitting in the bayou, crickets in the background, a bunch of friends sitting around, and one of them, surprisingly, with a piano.
Maybe the church has its doors open, and it's late in the evening. Maybe there is no congregation, and Waits is simply sitting by himself, thinking of the working week that is about to begin.
This feels all the more fitting when, near the end, it seems as if someone gets up and leaves. We are left with the sounds of nature, and the deep sadness of the version. Yet, somehow, just as happens with many of Waits' apparently bleakest records, hope remains.
That includes the hope of an artist at work, giving homage to past legends. Tom Waits isn't afraid of the future, and his artistic sense has always remained deep in the past. That is the case with his brilliant and beautiful cover of "Summer of Siam," something you might be emotionally devastated by, only to immediately play again.
Waits' song is just one of many winners on the album. Bruce Springsteen's "A Rainy Night in Soho" is excellent, as is the late Glen Hansard's "Bottle of Smoke." The entire record is worth a listen.
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