Song · Tom Waits
“What's He Building?” by Tom Waits
From the album Mule Variations (1999)
“What's He Building?” by Tom Waits appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 2023 and 2026. It was first released in 1999 on the album Mule Variations. Its best result is #723 on the KXT 917 Song Countdown. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #6,984 indie & aaa song of all time.
"What's He Building?" comes from Mule Variations, the album Tom Waits released on ANTI- in 1999, his first studio record in six years and the first since The Black Rider in 1993. Waits wrote the words and the music alone, and the credits have him on spoken vocals, so this one is talked rather than sung, over Ralph Carney's reeds, Jeff Sloan's percussion and a turntable worked by Ill Media.
He produced it with Kathleen Brennan. The album went out on the road with him that summer and fall, on a long run of shows across Europe and North America that was his first real tour since 1987.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 779 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2026 | 723 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
Also listed as: What's He Building.
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