“Visceral magic”: Alison Mosshart’s favourite song by Tom Waits

Posted On June 6, 2024June 6, 2024

Unlike many musicians, Alison Mosshart gets a kick out of the unknown. Aside from her contributions within The Kills, Mosshart thrives on stage, enjoying the thrill of being out of her own comfort zone. As she once put it: “The more nervous I am [about something], the more I love it and get addicted to it. That’s why I love playing on stage. And I kind of freak out if I don’t get to do it.”

It’s a unique achievement to become a sought-after musician outside of your own circle. Mosshart isn’t just a master within her own realm; she also enjoys collaborating with some of her favourite musicians, like Mini Mansions and their extended project, The Last Shadow Puppets. “I love doing collaborations with bands I love,” she once explained, which likely connects to her insatiable desire to be challenged.

It seems only fitting, therefore, that many of her own musical favourites and influences are ones that push boundaries and challenge convention within their own circles, paving the way for many to come. These include Nina Simone, whom Mosshart regarded as someone she feels she has always known, and Bruce Springsteen, whom she described as “incredible”.

One artist who particularly cuts deep, however, is one Mosshart has always had in her life: Tom Waits. “I’ve been listening to Tom Waits for a long time,” the musician told The Line of Best Fit. Although this is the case, her favourite song is one she discovered much later, but whenever she revisits it, she’s taken back to a specific moment in time. “That’s how powerful music is – it’s so sensory – all sorts of things in your life get attached to it like glue. It’s all over it, and then you can’t shake it off,” she said.

The track is, of course, Waits’ gorgeous ‘I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You’, which Mosshart called “visceral magic” due to its ability to transport her back in time to “driving through Louisiana late at night”. Recalling her initial connection and its lasting significance, she said: “Someone that was close to me in my life sent me that song, and it made me reconnect to it, and now when I hear it, there’s just no way for me not to remember that time.”

One of the reasons Mosshart grew so attached to the song was the way she listened to it, driving alone through the state with nothing else to do. After all, for the musician, listening to music while driving is one of the most ethereal experiences in life. “I get really romantic about music in my car,” she said. “I could just drive forever and ever and ever and never get tired of it.”

That, coupled with the fact that she had nothing to do, solidified the piece as significant during one of her most pivotal chapters. The wistfulness of such an experience seems like the ideal setting, particularly when you consider the introspectiveness of the song’s lyrics, like the line: “The music plays, and you display your heart for me to see / I had a beer, and now I hear you calling out for me.”

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