Downtown Train - Rod Stewart

STANDING out like a sore thumb on his innovative Rain Dogs, this track was Waits' "attempt at a pop song", he confessed in a TV interview. Patty Smyth of New York rock band Scandal recorded a version that cracked the Billboard charts in 1987 - the same year Mary Chapin Carpenter released her own version. No conflict there, but two years later the song sparked a feud between Bob "Old Time Rock And Roll" Seger and Rod Stewart. Seger claimed he mentioned his own cover version of Downtown Train to Stewart, only for Stewart to rush-release his own take and beat Seger to the punch. Stewart's version was a top five hit and he said Seger was lying and it was a case of "sour grapes". Seger never released his version.

Rod in action, complete with strange dance moves at the start:

And the Waits wonderfully cinematic film-clip of the song:

Jersey Girl - Bruce Springsteen

IT'S no surprise Springsteen loved this song enough to cover it just a year after it was released - he's a New Jersey native and it's rock-pop stylings weren't that far away from The Boss' sound. In fact, many think it's a Springsteen song, given that he's recorded it twice, gained more airplay from his version, and it has become a favourite among his fans. Written about Waits' wife Kathleen Brennan, one of the first time's Springsteen performed the song was with Waits himself at an L.A. concert in 1981.

Here's The Boss (with crowd singalong):

And a Waits live version:

Anywhere I Lay My Head - Scarlett Johansson

ONE of the weirdest pieces of music news to come out in 2008 was that actress Scarlett Johansson was recording a whole album of Tom Waits covers. Too odd to be true surely? The end result gained mixed reviews, with Johannson low sultry voice doing a passable job at re-interpreting Waits. She's not the first to do an entire album of his songs - blues legend John Hammond and Canadian jazz singer Holly Cole have both done the same.

Should Scarlett stick to acting? Here she does Falling Down:

And Waits belts it with passion on his most recent European tour:

Long Way Home - Norah Jones

WAITS and his wife contributed two songs to the little-seen film Big Bad Love in 2001, Jayne's Blue Wish and Long Way Home. The latter was picked up by jazz-pop singer Norah Jones for smash-hit second album Feels Like Home in 2004. The straight-ahead country ballad helped the album become one of the '00s top-selling albums. It also demonstrated the broad appeal of Waits - at one end of the scale he's been covered by the likes of Jones and indie singer Neko Case, at the other end there's versions of his tracks by The Ramones, Pearl Jam, and Meat Loaf.

Norah goes country for this Waits rarity:

And Waits does it: