Tom Waits and Marc Ribot collaborate on "Bella Ciao (Goodbye Beautiful)"

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/09/14/tom-waits-and-marc-ribot-colla.html

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And Marc Ribot is, what, chopped liver?

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No shit! I love some Tom Waits but Ribot is most definitely a musical hero to me.
His playing with Masada is otherworldly

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I saw him and Zorn once with John Medeski and Kenny Wolleson. One of the concerts i’ve ever been to.

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Apparently.

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Thank you for sharing this… Hands down my favorite Bella Ciao.

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Tom Waits, gets me every time.

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“Bella Chao” is a great song. It teaches good values.

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Tom Waits is a fine musician and an amusing fellow, but this is a terrible rendition of a good protest song. It’s a dirge. It’s a terrible thing to do to a good tune.

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I agree with you, as much as I adore Tom Waits. I sing this song in Italian to my kid as a bedtime song, and while my version is on the slower side as well, it’s not as funeral-like as this one.

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I prefer a more classic version https://youtu.be/jZLHsqOXFkc

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I wonder if my daughter will get sleepy everytime she hears Tom Waits when she’s older, since the “Bawlers” disc of the Orphans set is on constant rotation for naptime at our home. Thanks Tom, I couldn’t have done it without you!

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Well, the original tune kind of is, it’s a dirge of women having to work under inhuman conditions in the fields in northern Italy.

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In a way, turning it into a dirge is also a comment on all of the failed attempts to fight the fascists, going back not only to 1933 but also to 1848, when the German Revolution failed against the monarchists. Or think of the 1970s when the hippy revolution had entered full retreat. Or when even “liberals” had tossed in the towel in the 1990s, accepting Clinton, Blair and Schröder as their leaders.

The list goes on. And the poor keep on losing. Bella ciao.

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There are those who say “Rain Dogs” is Waits’ best album, which included Ribot in the band (that’s his signature guitar on “Jockey Full of Bourbon” which we all know from the soundtrack to “Down By Law.”)

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