"Kentucky Avenue" by Tom Waits (from the album, Blue Valentine, 1978)
Heard this one at a friend's last night, for the first time in forever. A touching ballad from a great balladeer, from what I think of as Waits's underrated "middle" period--after his boho-ratboy-folksinger beginnings, but before the Kurt Weill-influenced clanky-metal Brechtfest of later years. Blue Valentine is a favorite because of its jazz and blues influences, but this song is stark: a quiet narrative about friends growing up with a simple piano part and a shiver-inducing string arrangement.
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