Tom Waits Resurfaces with “The Fly,” a Spoken-Word Insect Ode

Two new Tom Waits tracks in a single year is, by any measure, an anomaly. The last time he released original material was 2011’s Bad as Me. So when “Boots on the Ground,” a collaboration with Massive Attack, arrived earlier this year, it felt like a fluke. Now, “The Fly” confirms that Waits is operating under his own, unpredictable logic.

The song is a spoken-word piece about a fly. Co-written with his wife and longtime collaborator Kathleen Brennan, it arrives with a lyric video animated by their son Casey. Waits’ statement on the track reads like a riddle: “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.” The delivery is deadpan, the subject absurd—a fitting re-entry for an artist who has always found profundity in the grimy margins.

“The Fly” serves as the B-side to “Boots on the Ground,” and both will appear on a benefit 12-inch out September 4 via Anti-. Proceeds are earmarked for civil rights and community advocacy groups, a direct gesture that aligns with the protest song’s tone. Waits hasn’t abandoned other pursuits either: he contributed to the recent Pogues tribute compilation for Shane MacGowan and has a role in Martin McDonagh’s upcoming film Wild Horse Nine, out in November. For now, it’s the fly that holds attention—a small, buzzing signal that Waits remains active on his own strange terms.