"Bottom of the World"

'Orphans: Brawlers', 2006

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Like “Ain’t Goin’ Down to the Well,” “Bottom of the World” first appeared in the score of a little-seen movie that didn’t get a proper soundtrack album. So true superfans could have heard it three years before its release on Orphans, but they had to dig deep.

The movie in question this time was 2003’s Long Gone, which won Best Documentary at Sundance and screened at some other festivals, but I don’t think ever got wide release. It’s a film about boxcar-riding tramps with names like Horizontal John and New York Slim. With that description, who else are you gonna ask to do the soundtrack?

Anyone who did manage to see Long Gone got an advance preview of Orphans. In addition to “Bottom of the World,” Long Gone was also the first place Tom’s recording of “Down There By the Train” appeared (though Johnny Cash had recorded it a decade earlier). Tom also recorded Jack Kerouac interpolation “Home I’ll Never Be” for the film. That one plays over the trailer:

“Pony” was also used, and I saw some reference to it having been originally written for the film too. But the timing of that didn’t make sense. Long Gone came out in 2003; “Pony” had been released on Mule Variations in 1999.

The film’s co-director Jack Cahill explained it to me: The film was supposed to take one year, but it took seven. So Tom gave up waiting and put “Pony” out himself.

Here’s what Cahill emailed me about Waits’ involvement:

Our Waits connection stems from my co-director David Eberhart who made a student film about tramps/hobos while in art college. Seeking music he wrote a letter to a Hollywood CA PO box he found on the back of a Waits album. A few months later he got a call from a gravelly voiced Waits who said it would be ok to use some songs. Eberhart stayed in touch and a few years later he got Waits to agree to write some original music for our feature length docu. Well we were inexperienced and had lots of $etbacks/delay$ and Waits got kinda tired of our excuses and told Eberhart “you know deadlines are a good thing. You’re kinda like that guy standing at the bar holding a box of rice always talking about this dinner you’re gonna cook but never do.” So Waits, right?

Eventually Cahill and Eberhart found the money to finish the film. Tom can’t have been too ticked off, since he still gave them those unreleased songs to use, including an all-timer, “Bottom of the World.”

The ‘Long Gone’ documentary isn’t streaming anywhere, but Jack Cahill himself will send you a DVD for $15 plus shipping! Check out this comment on Vimeo for info on how to order it directly from him.

Coming up next: Tom looks for a lake with a funny name