There’s always something to howl about.

Unchained Melodies: Tom Waits performing “Clap Hands” and “Time”

Youtube let me down tonight.

I thought James McMurtry doing Choctaw Bingo would have been a treat for Sean Purcell, and I would have loved to have latched onto videos of Tom Waits’ Falling Down and The Part You Throw Away for Geno Petro and Russell Shaw.

Struck out in three pitches.

Instead, we have this, Tom Waits doing Clap Hands and Time, two radically different pages from the man’s catalog.

Tom Waits is an acquired taste, and he goes well out of his way to make it hard for people to figure out why they should listen to him. This particular clip is from “Big Time,” which is second only to Bob Dylan’s “Renaldo and Clara” as the most stupidly self-indulgent rock movie ever made.

And yet… The first time I saw “Big Time” I loved it despite hating dozens and dozens of painfully stupid moments. I’ve followed Tom since I was a teenager — since he was barely old enough to drink. This is the art of brutality, and it’s not for everyone. I love Clap Hands, and I’ve forced poor Cathleen to listen to it thousands of times. But, whatever you do, be sure to hang in there for Time. Despite the PoMo performance, it’s a beautiful, heart-breaking song.