Tom Waits writes poem for Keith Richards

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Waits pays tribute to his guitar-slinging old friend

(Image credit: John A. Angelillo/Corbis / Michael Hurcomb/Corbis)

There have been a number of Tom Waits and Keith Richards collaborations over the years - Richards has cropped up on Waits' Rain Dogs and Bad As Me albums - but this is perhaps the most poignant: Waits has penned an original poem about Keef, simply titled 'Keith Richards…'.

The poem appears in Rolling Stone's tribute issue, Keith Richards: The Ultimate Guide to His Music & Legend, and features a number of references to Keef's inimitable guitar style ("His tunings are furiously guarded secrets"), as well as the surprising revelation that "He can run faster than a fax machine."

You can read Waits's full poem below.

Michael Brown
Michael Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.