Tom Waits’ ‘Step Right Up’ (1976) is one of those tracks that feels half-song, half-theatre. On the surface, it’s a fast-talking parody of advertising, where Waits becomes a carnival barker selling miracle cures and snake oil. It’s comedic, yes — but the humour is razor-edged: this is about consumer culture, about selling illusions and the hollowness at the heart of hype.

‘Step Right Up’ shows how performance can be more than notes on a page. Waits demonstrates the power of character, rhythm, and timing. Every pause and exaggeration counts. The song also shows how songwriting isn’t only about melody and lyrics — it can be about tone and energy; the vehicle, not just tenor. His voice cracks, growls, and rambles, sometimes incomprehensibly, and that’s what makes it compelling. It’s a reminder that music isn’t made necessarily greater by polish. It’s about creating an atmosphere where the performance itself becomes the message.

What makes the song so striking is its looseness. Waits improvised many of the lines in the studio, giving the track its breathless momentum. The delivery owes a lot to beat poetry of the 60s — think Kerouac or Ginsberg, heroes of Waits – where language tumbles forward in long, rhythmic lines.

The song arrived in mid-1970s America: a time of political scandals, economic problems, and a growing distrust of big institutions (seem familiar?). At the same time, consumer culture was becoming more dominant (natch). Advertising was more pervasive and promised endless, empty solutions for everything, and Waits fires back reflecting its own false promises back through a funhouse mirror, twisting language into absurdity. Listening now, it’s striking how little has changed. If anything, the song feels even more relevant in an age of social media ads, influencers, viral trends and doom scrolling.

Happy Sunday all!

Will