The power of the unexpected: Tom Waits’ favourite song by The Rolling Stones
With most musicians, it’s usually easy to guess their influences; their inspirations are more often than not evident, like beacons hidden in plain sight within their artistry, waiting to be discovered by those who seek them. However, with Tom Waits, identifying his cherished figures is more of a challenge, mainly because his artistry, ever-evolving and shifting like the tides, transforms with a mere click, making his favourites harder to pinpoint.
In this way, Waits could be seen as a jack of all trades, a maestro of self-invention, not out of necessity, but because his heart often guides him in various directions. With every new album, Waits presents a new palette of sonic discovery, his artistry defined only by the mere idea that, when it all boils down to it, his vision is exceptionally impossible to define.
For this reason, his influences are constantly changing, moving with the ever-evolving parameters of his own work, confined only by those he deems worthy of his attention at any given time. When asked the question about those who captivate his attention, it comes as no surprise, therefore, that he once remarked, “If you ask me tomorrow, the list would change, of course.”
Many of those he has openly admired are names one might expect, like Bob Dylan, whom he regarded as essential to a songwriter “as a hammer and nails and a saw are to a carpenter”. Others include the King himself, Elvis Presley, alongside huge rock virtuosos like The Who, Nick Cave, and Elvis Costello. He also appreciates those residing in the immovable list of country and folk greats, like Willie Nelson and Woody Guthrie.
Waits’ appreciation for The Rolling Stones might also be an obvious highlight, but his favourite song by the band, ‘I Just Want To See His Face’, is a unique pick likely influenced by the band’s ability to execute an extended jam without much in terms of a formulaic structure. Unlike many of the Stones’ commercial hits, ‘I Just Want To See His Face’ was almost entirely improvised on the spot by Charlie Watts and Mick Taylor, with Mick Jagger ad-libbing vocals.
As Jagger explained in 1992: “I think it was just a trio originally, though other people might have been added eventually. It was a complete jam.”
He added: “I just made the song up there and then over the riff that Charlie and Mick were playing. That’s how I remember it, anyway.”
Also, unlike their more popular hits, this execution meant that the track came together completely instinctively, blending the band’s inherent fixation with country, blues, folk, and soul.
Its distinctive nature and exploration of multiple genres and indescribable appeal likely became one of the main reasons Waits resonated with it over their other songs. Instead of opting for an obvious tune, which wouldn’t be Waits’ style anyway, ‘I Just Want To See His Face’ captures a raw, almost primal energy that aligns with his own affinity for the unconventional and the mysterious. This is precisely the kind of musical terrain Waits often explores—where emotion trumps perfection, and the imperfections themselves become part of the song’s allure.
