Tom Waits turns in a haunting live rendition of “Tom Traubert’s Blues” on The Human Factor, his weathered voice carrying every ounce of the song’s ache. The ballad reflects on homelessness, vulnerability, and life on the margins, and Waits delivers it with a raw, stripped-back arrangement that lets the lyrics cut deep. It’s a definitive showcase from one of American songwriting’s most singular voices, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who built an entire universe out of the lives of the forgotten and down-on-their-luck.