Waits upset about car commercial

Tom Waits’ next boozy, bluesy tune might be about European car manufacturers.

The gravel-voiced Waits said Opel, a European division of General Motors, is running a TV commercial in Scandinavia with a soundtrack resembling his style and sound. And he’s not happy about it.

“Commercials are an unnatural use of my work,” the 55-year-old singer said in a statement. “It’s like having a cow’s udder sewn to the side of my face. Painful and humiliating.”

Waits said he’s never allowed his voice or music to be used in commercials, “and I have lawyers over there investigating my options.”

Opel denies any intention to mimic Waits. The carmaker said the music in the ad is a Brahms composition with a Frankfurt, Germany-based singer giving a “rough voice interpretation for the ‘Wiegenlied’ theme in English.” The company said Steven Tyler of Aerosmith was the only celebrity approached for the ad.

From Associated Press