"Tom Traubert's Blues" | ||||
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Song by Tom Waits | ||||
from the album Small Change | ||||
Released | September 1976 | |||
Recorded | July 15Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco, California | –29, 1976 at|||
Genre | rock | |||
Length | 6:40 | |||
Label | Asylum | |||
Songwriter(s) | Tom Waits | |||
Producer(s) | Bones Howe | |||
Small Change track listing | ||||
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"Tom Traubert's Blues (Waltzing Matilda)" | ||||
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Single by Rod Stewart | ||||
from the album Lead Vocalist | ||||
B-side | "Sailing"/"No Holding Back" | |||
Released | March 1992 | |||
Format | CD, 7", cassette | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 6:11 | |||
Label | Warner Bros | |||
Songwriter(s) | Tom Waits | |||
Producer(s) | Trevor Horn | |||
Rod Stewart singles chronology | ||||
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"Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)" (commonly known as "Tom Traubert's Blues" and sometimes, incorrectly, as "Waltzing Matilda") is a song by American rock musician Tom Waits.
It is the opening track on Waits' third studio album Small Change, released in September 1976 on Asylum Records. Written by Waits and produced by Bones Howe, the song's chorus is derived from the Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda" and its lyrics narrate alcohol abuse, inspired by Waits' own experiences in Los Angeles and Copenhagen.
The song is considered one of Waits' signature songs and was described by Howe as "the work of an extremely talented lyricist". It has since been covered by a number of artists, including Rod Stewart, who released a version of the song on the compilation album Lead Vocalist (1993). Stewart's version was released as a single in 1992 and charted in eight countries upon its release, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Sweden.
"Tom Traubert's Blues" was written by Tom Waits while he was living in London in 1976. In an interview on NPR's World Cafe in December 2006, Waits stated that the title character was "a friend of a friend" who had died in prison. The song's subtitle ("Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen") is a reference to the time that Waits spent in Copenhagen, Denmark while on tour in June 1976. In Copenhagen, Waits had met Danish singer and violinist Mathilde Bondo. Bondo performed violin during Waits' appearance on the DR1 TV show Sange Efter Lukketid and said that she "of course had to show him the city – we were in Tivoli and on Christianshavn. It was a lovely night [...] we waltzed a lot" Bondo later said "I'm really proud to have been the muse for his song" and referred to Waits' depiction of Copenhagen as "somewhat ambiguous but it's a wonderful song."