Listen to Tom Waits’ darkly comic new spoken-word track ‘The Fly’

Tom Waits has released the full version of his sardonic spoken-word track ‘The Fly’ – check it out below.

The track serves as the B-side to ‘Boots On The Ground‘, Waits’ politically charged collaboration with Massive Attack, which was released online in April and marked the singer-songwriter’s first new original music since his 2011 album ‘Bad As Me‘.

A tease of ‘The Fly’ was released several months ago, but now the entire track has been shared, and it sees Waits offer a begrudging tribute to the brief and unloved life of the common housefly.

“You have no house, well you have mine / You have no real friends, stay away from the wine,” he recites. “House fly go to sleep, say goodbye / No one will weep when you die.”

“You’re handsome and thin, you try to blend in / You bastard, sitting around all over the place / You’ll be here even after the bomb / Why don’t you go out and eat cat shit with your mom?”

Check out the lyric video, illustrated by the artist’s son Casey Waits, here:

The track is in the tradition of the musician’s previous darkly comic spoken-word pieces, including ‘What’s He Building In There?’ and ‘The Ocean Doesn’t Want Me’.

Waits has said: “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. Hence, the B-side of Massive Attack’s upcoming 12-inch ‘The Fly’ features my appreciation for the winged nuisance.”

‘Boots On The Ground’ and ‘The Fly’ will be released together on 12-inch vinyl on September 4, with a 180g ‘EcoSonic’ pressing to be available in red, white or blue vinyl, manufactured using recycled materials in an effort to reduce its environmental impact. Pre-order it here.

‘Boots On The Ground’ arrived with a film made by Massive Attack and US photographer thefinaleye, featuring imagery of protests against ICE raids, the militarisation of domestic forces and state authoritarianism.

Massive Attack have said about the project as a whole: “It’s a career honour to collaborate with an artist of the magnitude, originality and integrity of Tom, but this track is arriving in an atmosphere of chaos. Across the western hemisphere, state authoritarianism and the militarisation of police forces are fusing again with neo-fascist politics. Seen within the American emergency, at home and overseas, this track contains pulses of callous impulse and abandoned mind.”

In 2023, Waits’ longtime music agent Paul Charles claimed that the US singer-songwriter and actor had been “writing again” with the hope that the 76-year-old may tour.

Earlier this year, Waits and his wife and longtime collaboration Kathleen Brennan also curated ‘Where The Willow And The Dogwood Grow’, a collection featuring other artists’ versions of their songs, including recordings by Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Ramones, Willie Nelson and Marianne Faithfull.