"Bad as Me" is a song by

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musician

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

, written collectively by Waits and his wife

Kathleen Brennan Kathleen Patricia Brennan (born 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and artist. She is known for her work as a co-writer, producer, and influence on the work of her husband Tom Waits. Biography Brennan was born in Cork, ...

. Written and recorded during the sessions for his studio album of the same name, the song was released as Waits' seventeenth

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on August 23, 2011 and was the first new studio material by Waits in seven years, since '' Real Gone'' in 2004.

Release

Following an announcement by Waits on his official web site on August 16, 2011 stating that he "will set the record straight," the artwork, track listing, song length and an audio clip of "Bad as Me" were released on

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and musicME. According to Waits, in a

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video announcing the release of ''Bad as Me'', the leak of information "spoiled the surprise" of his announcement as the single was "going to go out everywhere, into the blood stream." The previous June, Waits posted a picture of a chalkboard, with the lyrics to the song's chorus, on his official web site and

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pages. The song is also the eighth track on ''

Bad as Me ''Bad as Me'' is the seventeenth and most recent studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released on October 21, 2011 by Anti- Records. The album is known to have been recorded as early as February 2011 and was officially announced ...

'' that was released on October 24, 2011.

Critical reception

Upon its release, "Bad as Me" received critical acclaim. Michael Cragg of ''

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'' referred to the track as "as raw and unnerving as ever with this clattering, bluesy comeback track" and noted how there " ssomething deeply sinister about the chorus of 'You're the same kind of bad as me', creating an almost suffocating atmosphere."

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also described the song as "a characteristically unhinged caterwaul," and ''

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'' further commented that the song was "pure, melodramatic Waits, with a dragging blues beat, stabbing, reverb-dipped guitars, and a horn section that plays accomplice to the gritty unfoldings ..making the whole thing feel like the perfect soundtrack to some dusty bar full of misfits and killers in a

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...

film." Over a week after its release, "Bad as Me" was added to ''

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s Editors' Picks and was referred to as "a gloriously ramshackle thing, with pop's greatest living vaudevillian pushing his drunkard's bleat over a honking baritone sax and a clattering oompah beat" and called the lyrics "total nonsense, and pure genius."

Chart performance

Track listing

;Digital download #"Bad as Me" - 3:10

Cover versions

Tom Jones performs the song on ''Spirit in the Room'', an album of cover versions.

References

{{Tom Waits 2011 singles Songs written by Tom Waits Tom Waits songs Anti- (record label) singles 2011 songs Songs written by Kathleen Brennan