Page "Tom Waits" Paragraph 34

In 2002, Waits simultaneously released two albums, Alice and Blood Money.

Both collections had been written almost 10 years previously and were based on theatrical collaborations with Robert Wilson ; the former a musical play about Lewis Carroll, and the latter an interpretation of Georg Büchner's play fragment Woyzeck.

Both albums revisit the tango, Tin Pan Alley, and spoken-word influences of Swordfishtrombones, while the lyrics are both profoundly cynical and melancholic, exemplified by " Misery is the River of the World " and " Everything Goes to Hell.

" " Diamond in Your Mind ", which Waits wrote for Wilson's Woyzeck, did not appear on Blood Money ; however, it did emerge on Solomon Burke's album Don't Give Up on Me of the same year.

While Waits has played the song live a number of times, an official version would not be released until 2007.

The same year, Waits contributed a version of " The Return of Jackie and Judy " by The Ramones to the compilation album We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones, which was released in 2003 on Columbia Records.

That same year, Waits was also a judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists ' careers.

Waits was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards.