The music of Tom Waits is certainly an acquired taste. His raspy voice, among many of his other interesting tonal and sonic qualities, are beyond some listeners. There is an unrefined nature to his music, found in the recording quality and also in the sound quality of the instruments. His music ranges from extremely overdriven, with shouting vocals and distorted guitars, to crude back hill instrumentation, as exemplified in this song All The World is Green. The guitar is twangy, the drums are dull and, the clarinet is very soft and airy. Previously, we have already discussed the ability of the clarinet to match many different vocal qualities, and it is no different for the voice of Tom Waits. The clarinet is just as raspy and whispery as his voice. The lyrics and subject matter of this tune are very whimsical, yet bittersweet, and the clarinetist does a magnificent job of capturing the mood.
