All right. Compare these 30 second samples from Scarlett Johansson’s upcoming Anywhere I Lay My Head album. First track is Scarlett singing the rest are Tom Waits:
Now, it’s hard to belittle Tom Waits but he was not, as Leonard Cohen once sang, born with the gift of the golden voice. I have every respect in the world for Tom Waits but I applaud any efforts to have as many of his songs performed by others as possible. Not that Scarlett Johansson is a world class singer, mind you. She kind of sounds like my sister. But still, a step in the right direction is a step in the right direction.
And one must hand it to Scarlett. If she has aspirations of becoming one of those singing actresses then choosing to record an album of Tom Waits’ songs is both gutsy and classy.
Next step: the Bob Dylan catalogue. She already did the video.