Tom Waits Changes My Life For (At Least) The Third Time

I used to feel ashamed when someone would ask me if I'd heard of a band that I'd never heard of. I don't really know why. I think I just like knowing about things before other people, even though I rarely put in the effort to learn anything new.

But I don't feel like that anymore, thanks to Tom Waits. He was asked to write an article about his favorite albums. It's pretty long, and boring in parts, and I feel sure he didn't put a lot of thought into the list. But somewhere near the end, he wrote this:

14 Passion for Opera Aria (EMI Classics) 1994

I heard 'Nessun Dorma' in the kitchen at Coppola's with Raul Julia one night, and it changed my life, that particular Aria. I had never heard it. He asked me if I had ever heard it, and I said no, and he was like, as if I said I've never had spaghetti and meatballs - 'Oh My God, Oh My God!' - and he grabbed me and he brought me into the jukebox (there was a jukebox in the kitchen) and he put that on and he just kind of left me there. It was like giving a cigar to a five-year old. I turned blue, and I cried.

And the way I see it, if Tom Waits, the coolest god damned man on earth, isn't embarrassed about not having heard of something, then I shouldn't be either. And Jesus, what a good story. Thanks again, Mr. Waits.

Also, if anyone bothered reading the article, I wonder how good that Sinatra album really is. About scoring chicks, I mean. Perhaps my legions of faithful readers should give it a try, and later we can share zany stories of madcap sexual misadventure.

Or no?