Song · Tom Waits
“Goin' Out West” by Tom Waits
From the album Bone Machine (1992)
“Goin' Out West” by Tom Waits appears on 5 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1992 and 2026. It was first released in 1992 on the album Bone Machine. Its best result is #91 on the WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1992. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #269 alternative song of 1992.
Tom Waits wrote "Goin' Out West" with Kathleen Brennan for Bone Machine, his 1992 return to studio albums after five years, and it comes out of the same bare cellar room at Prairie Sun Recording that he described as nothing but a cement floor and a water heater. The whole album is rough, stripped to the bone and heavy on percussion, and the credits here fit the bill: Waits produced it, sings it and pounds the drums himself, with Brennan on percussion, Joe Gore on guitar and Larry Taylor on double bass, and Biff Dawes recorded and mixed.
The song left its mark on the sleeve, too. Jesse Dylan and Jim Jarmusch directed its video, and a freeze frame from it became the album cover, Waits blurred and screaming in monochrome under a horned skullcap and goggles. The album went on to win the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 91 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1992 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 159 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2023 | 759 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2023 | 216 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
| 2026 | 596 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound | 1055 |
Also listed as: Going Out West.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Goin' Out West" by Tom Waits.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.