Song · Tom Waits
“(looking For) the Heart of Saturday Night” by Tom Waits
From the album The Heart of Saturday Night (1974)
“(looking For) the Heart of Saturday Night” by Tom Waits appears on 6 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2001 and 2023. It was first released in 1974 on the album The Heart of Saturday Night. Its best result is #123 on the WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,835 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night" is the title song of Tom Waits' 1974 album The Heart of Saturday Night, written after he came off a tour with Frank Zappa that followed Closing Time. Waits built the record on Jack Kerouac's way of writing and his themes, and this song is a wistful, melancholy wander through the city streets after dark, the beat poet's night out set to a barroom lullaby.
Waits sings and plays piano, surrounded by a small jazz combo: Jim Hughart on double bass, Bill Goodwin on drums and Pete Christlieb's tenor saxophone curling around the edges, with Bob Alcivar arranging. Bones Howe produced and engineered it, keeping everything close and smoky.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 123 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 435 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2009 | 835 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2010 | 144 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2022 | 933 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time | 1055 |
| 2023 | 421 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
Also listed as: Looking For the Heart of Saturday Night; Heart of Saturday Night; (Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night; Heart Of Saturday Night.
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