Known covers:
Bukowski Waits For Us - Vol. 2. Michael Kiessling. September 25, 2000. Buschfunk (Germany)
Nach mir die Sintflut - Ambros singt Waits. Wolfgang Ambros. October 9, 2000. Ariol/ Gig Records 74321 797002 (in German: "Groß in Kagran")
Downhill. Satantango. 2002. Vinza (Italy)
You Have To Dig Deep To Bury Daddy. Jeff Lang. August, 2005. ABC Music (ABC 14512)
Faith & Science. Shane Nicholson. May 20, 2006. EMI / Essence
Bass Box Is Your Friend. Bass Box. March 25, 2007. Self-released
I've Been Waiting. David Ralston. December 2007. Self-released
Sentimental Horses. The Millionaires. June 15, 2008. Self-released (Australia)

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Big In Japan
- Rip Rense (1999): Are you really, as the opening track declares, "Big in Japan?" How do you know this? Ever been there? Tom Waits: "I see myself in the harbor, ripping up the electrical towers, picking up cars, going in like Godzilla and levelling Tokyo. There are people that are big in Japan, and are big nowhere else. It's like going to Mars. It's also kind of a junkyard for entertainment. You can go over there and find people you haven't heard of in 20 years, that have moved over there, and they're like gods. And then there are all those people that don't do any commercials, they have this classy image. And over there, they're hawking cigarettes, underwear, sushi, whiskey, sunglass es, used cars, beach blankets." Q: The beginning of "Big In Japan" is one of the more startling sounds you've ever put on record. TW: "I was in Mexico in a hotel, and I only had this little tape recorder. I turned it on, and I started screaming and banging on this chest of drawers really hard, till it was kindling, trying to make a full sound like a band. And I saved that. That was years ago. I had it on a cassette, and used to listen to it and laugh. It sounded like some guy alone in a room, which it was, trying his hardest to sound like a big, loud band. So we stuck that in the front." (Source: A Q&A about Mule Variations. MSO: Rip Rense, early 1999)
- Jody Denberg (1999): So, are you big in Japan? Tom Waits: "Well, I hope to be big in Japan after this. I don't know if I'm big in Japan. I've been over there several times, but I haven't been there in many years. This is a song about those people who can't work anywhere else but Japan, and, so it's just a goof, you know?" AC: "Big in Japan" is the first song on Mule Variations and there's some strange sounds the minute you put the CD on. Is that a sample of your own vocal percussion? What's happening there? TW: "It's just a contest I had with myself in a hotel room. I wanted to see if I could sound like a band all by myself, without any instruments. So I stood banging on the chest of drawers and the wall and headboard, just trying to, you know, get that sound -- like that full band sound. That's what I wound up with; looped it and sampled it. Or sampled it and looped it or whatever they call it." (Source: Mule Conversations. Austin Chronicle: Jody Denberg. April, 1999)
- Gil Kaufman (1999): Then you have a character like this guy in "Big In Japan." He seems like this guy who's bragging about all the things he has and all the things he doesn't have. He's trying to impress his buddies. He's got the sizzle but he doesn't have the steak. Who is that guy and what inspired you to write a song about that kind of character? Tom Waits: "I don't know. He's just a goof. "I'm big in Japan, baby. Check it out." Kaufman: You see a lot of people in the music business and elsewhere who are like that guy, who are always trying to impress people. It seems like you nailed that guy pretty well. TW: "Well, there are people that are big in Japan and not necessarily anywhere else. "You do a couple of Suntori whisky commercials, you can be big in Japan." Goldberg: That's true. Waits: Hey, there's nothing wrong with being big in Japan. It's OK. At least he's big somewhere. Goldberg: If he really is big, doesn't that come into question too? TW: "He's got the whole damn nation on its knees". Goldberg: That's what he says. TW: "Well, I don't know. [laughter]: Are you calling him a liar? Now I have to defend him? What is this? Is this a tribunal? Or a deposition? What's going on here?" [laughter] Kaufman: We're just trying to find out why this guy thinks he's so big in Japan. TW: "Yeah, well ... You do a couple of Suntori whiskey commercials, you can be big in Japan." (Source: Tom Waits '99, Coverstory ATN. Addicted to Noise: Gil Kaufman en Michael Goldberg. April, 1999)
- Jonathan Valania (1999): What about "Big In Japan"? How big are you in Japan? TW: "Haven't played there in a long time. Last time I was there, I was on a bullet train, had my little porkpie hat, my pointed shoes and my skinny tie. There was a whole car of Japanese gangsters dressed like Al Capone and Cagney, really zooted. Everyone says, "Don't go in there, don't go in there," but it was the only place with seats - everybody else was huddled together like cattle. And they are in this huge air-conditioned car, with tea and little cookies and six guys sitting around talking with cigars. I said, "Fuck, I'm gonna go in there and sit down." And I did. It was like this big, heavy stand-off, then they all started laughing, we all tipped our hats and did that little bow. It was pretty funny. Then I brought my guys in and we all sat down, my mob with the Japanese mob. They always want me to do ads for underwear and cigarettes, but I never did them. I did one and I'll never do it again. I used to see celebrities doing ads and my first reaction was, "Aw, gee he must have needed the money. That's tough." When somebody was on the slide, they would do an ad." (Source: "The Man Who Howled Wolf ". Magnet: Jonathan Valania. June/July, 1999)

⁽²⁾ Big: n. Underworld and teenage streetgang use since c1950. adj. 1. Important, the most important. 2. Successful; celebrated; influential; famous; popularly accepted, esp. said of entertainers or entertainment. (Source: Dictionary Of American Slang, Wentworth/ Flexner)