Song of the Week: Jersey Girl

Tom Waits is an amazing artist whose oeuvre is diverse and extensive.  One song from relatively early in his career that is not usually associated with him is "Jersey Girl."  A sweet, romantic song, it is often attributed to Bruce Springsteen given its content and the fact that it is a staple of his live shows.  However, it was in fact written and recorded first by Waits.  Here's a version:

Or, if you're feeling contrary, here is Eddie Vedder performing it:

Song of the Week: The Dream Is Always the Same

Sorry for the hiatus; incredibly hectic couple of weeks.

This week's Song of the Week is actually from a movie soundtrack, to one of my all-time favorite 80s movies:  Risky Business.  The soundtrack was done by Tangerine Dream, the pioneering German synth band, and it was highly effective.  Of course, there was quite a bit of auxiliary music by the likes of Bob Seger, Muddy Waters, Prince and Talking Heads, but the cool synth washes of the TD music was a real high point, especially in two spots:  the opening scene ("The Dream Is Always the Same") and later in the movie ("Love on a Real Train").

Anyway, here is the first four minutes, including the great "Dream" scene, which perfectly sets up the tension around the striving and ambitious (but not immensely talented) main character Joel:

Oops, not allowed to embed that one.  Here is the link.