Tom Waits Shares New Spoken Word Piece ‘The Fly’

Tom Waits has shared a new spoken word piece titled “The Fly,” the B-side to his recent collaboration with Massive Attack.

“Today, as in all of mankind’s yesterdays, guarantees this type of song will never go out of style. Man’s folly of fiascos is a feast for the flies,” Waits said of the track in a statement.

“The Fly,” Waits’ second new original recording since his 2011 album Bad as Me, was accompanied by an animated lyric video illustrated by his son Casey Waits:

“You’ve got those 360 degree see around eyes / You’ve got wings so fast they buzz when you fly,” Waits says in his trademark growl at the onset of the four-and-a-half minute piece. “A maggot is what you are in your early cocoon / They probably find flies all the way on the moon / Even weeds don’t ever want to die, is it any different for a fly?”

Waits later tells the insect, who buzzes throughout the recording, “Stand still, don’t move, I’ll go get my swatter… You fucker, you sit on the cake, cleaning your hands and your face.”

“The Fly,” co-written by Waits and wife Kathleen Brennan, follows “Boots on the Ground,” the protest song Waits recorded with Massive Attack. Both tracks will appear on an “EcoSonic” 180g 12″ vinyl single that is available to preorder now through Waits’ webstore; proceeds from the “fundraiser-priced” vinyl will “support civil rights and community advocacy organizations.”

“One day many years ago, I accepted an invitation from Massive Attack to collaborate. Their long release delay never worried me,” Waits previously said of the collaboration. “The B-side of Massive Attack’s upcoming 12 inch ‘The Fly’ features my appreciation for the winged nuisance.”