Franks Wild Years


Franks Wild Years is the ninth studio album by Tom Waits, released 1987 on Island Records. Subtitled "Un Operachi Romantico in Two Acts", the album contains songs written by Waits and collaborators for a play of the same name. The shared title of the album and the play is an iteration of "Frank's Wild Years", a song from Waits' 1983 album Swordfishtrombones.
The play had its world premiere at the Briar St. Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, on June 22, 1986, performed by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
Various versions of "Way Down in the Hole" were used as the theme music for the HBO series The Wire, including Waits' original version for the second season. The songs "Temptation" and "Cold Cold Ground" were used in Jean-Claude Lauzon's film Léolo. "Cold Cold Ground" was also used in the series '. "Temptation" and "Straight to the Top " featured in the film ', and "Innocent When You Dream" featured in the film Smoke.
The song "If I Have to Go" was used in the play, but released only in 2006 on . The theme from "If I Have to Go" was used under the title "Rat's Theme" in the documentary Streetwise as early as 1984.

Chart information

ChartPeak position
Switzerland14
Billboard 200115

Track listing

Note: Cold Cold Ground is Incorrectly listed as "Cold Call Ground" on the Island CD release.

Personnel

The album ranked number 5 among "Albums of the Year" for 1987 in the annual NME critics' poll.