I Don't Wanna Grow Up (Tom Waits song)
# I Don't Wanna Grow Up (Tom Waits song)

"I Don't Wanna Grow Up" is an experimental rock song performed by musician Tom Waits, co-written by his wife Kathleen Brennan, from the 1992 album Bone Machine. The song is from the point of a view of a child observing that growing older leads to a sense of hopelessness.

## Music video

A music video for this song was directed by Jim Jarmusch, a frequent collaborator with Waits (having appeared in Jarmusch's films Down by Law and Mystery Train). Jarmusch has stated that the filming of this music video led to a fight between him and Waits:

   "He wanted me to cut it differently, and I said, that 'it's like a film I'm making, Tom,' and, and he said, 'no, it's a commercial for this song. If people are watching TV, I don't want them changing channel. If you can pop this crazy image in the earlier, it would help this, that, blah blah blah.'
   We had a big fight in which I dropped him in an enclosed parking lot behind a metal door in LA in the middle of the night... He was pounding on the door. I vividly remember the insult, which no one has ever said to me again. He yelled through the door, 'God dammit, Jim, I'm going to glue your hair to the wall.' At which point I let him back in. It was a fight between friends. We reconciled."

The video itself cuts between Waits dressed in a devil costume riding a tricycle and Waits playing a miniature guitar while underneath a table.

## Cover versions

* In 1995, the punk band Ramones covered the song for their 1995 farewell album ¡Adios Amigos!.
* Indie rock band Broken Social Scene also recorded a cover of this song alongside a cover of their own song "Skyline".
