"Blind Love"

'Rain Dogs', 1985

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I planned to write today’s newsletter about how “Blind Love” is one of Tom’s most-covered songs.

But, it turns out, it’s not. When I went to fact-check my hunch, I discovered “Blind Love” is not even in the top twenty most-covered Waits songs, according to SecondHandSongs, the most reliable database for such things.

The reason I made this incorrect assumption might be that the song has had several fairly high-profile covers. I extrapolated, wrongly, that “Blind Love” must be a staple of repertoires across the globe. But it’s no “Downtown Train.” It’s not even “Rainbow Sleeves.” But I had the covers idea in my head — covers are my main gig, after all — so I decided to do a short survey of the covers that do exist. The seven SecondHandSongs knows about, plus one more I found forgotten in my iTunes.

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The first “Blind Love” cover came four years after Rain Dogs. Impressively enough, that first cover is a translation! “Blind kärlek” is apparently “Blind Love” in Swedish. The performer’s name is Badliver & hans Brustna hjärtan, which, as you might have guessed from the first word, is a Tom Waits tribute act. Or started that way; apparently they eventually wrote their own stuff. The music on “Blind kärlek” plays up the country aspects of the song with prominent steel guitar. The singer has a smoother voice than Tom (but who doesn’t?) and some beautiful backing vocals join on the chorus. Sometimes these translated covers are basically carbon-copies of the original musically — you’re already changing one aspect pretty dramatically, after all — but this one would be worthy even in English.

Next up is the big one, and the reason I probably thought this was covered more than it was. In 1991, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band recorded “Blind Love” for their album The Fire Inside (he also did “New Coat of Paint” on the same album). It sounds like a Bob Seger tune. Not the Detroit ass-kicker of Live Bullet, unfortunately, but the mellower AOR balladeer of “Against the Wind.” It’s fine, but a shame that ‘70s Seger didn’t rip through "Ice Cream Man" or something in his more fiery years.

The Silver Hearts Play Rain Dogs is an ambitious 2005 live album by Ontario bar band The Silver Hearts, covering every track on the classic album. The whole thing’s worth a listen, bringing a greasy cabaret-punk energy to the likes of “Walking Spanish” and “Jockey Full of Bourbon.” I’m afraid “Blind Love” is not one of the highlights, but there’s some nice fiddle work.

Dave Alvin’s West of the West is a terrific covers album, paying tribute to California songwriters from Jerry Garcia to Brian Wilson. His version of Merle Haggard’s “Kern River” is a must-hear. “Blind Love” is almost as good. Alvin ditches the country inflections most other covers seem to give it, bringing in a sleazy slow-blues vibe. No surprise Alvin knows his way around a Waits song; he played guitar himself on the first disc of Orphans, though the liner notes don’t note on which song(s).

The one not on SecondHandSongs is Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles’ version, I have via a fan compilation called Female Tribute To Tom Waits. Worth seeking out! This came years before Dualtone Records used the same idea for a “proper” tribute album. Borges’ version first came out on her 2007 album Diamonds in the Dark. Another winner, mostly fairly minimalist with her voice and the drums as lead instruments. Until the pedal steel solo.

Three more to go, not all impressive. From the band name, I was hoping Squid might be some prog-rock weirdness. Nope, it sounds like someone doing their bad Tom impression (yes, they do the voice). My expectations were lower for The Refreshments, given the album title — Real Rock ’n’ Roll — and general vibe of the album cover. And those expectations were met. It’s fine.

Last up is Charlie Giordano. He’s played organ with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ever since Danny Federici passed some years back. On the side, he’s quietly released some covers albums with the label Solo Sounds, which churns out instrumental covers albums by acclaimed session musicians and sidemen. Giordano’s done “Solo Accordion” tributes to Leonard Cohen and video game tunes and “Solo Piano” tributes to The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet and Tom’s Rain Dogs. They work better as whole albums you can put on in the background than singling out one track that will wow you, but he’s a top-notch player and his “Blind Love” is as tasteful and impressive as anything else.

Coming up next: Tom floats to the surface like a dead carp