Downtown Train

Island released it as a single in November 1985, with Tango Till They're Sore on the B-side. Jean-Baptiste Mondino directed a black and white video with a cameo by the boxer Jake LaMotta.

Patty Smyth's 1987 version reached number 95 on the Hot 100. Rod Stewart's, produced by Trevor Horn and released on Warner Bros. in November 1989, reached number 3 on the Hot 100 and number 1 on the Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts. It reached number 10 in the UK and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal. Bob Seger recorded the song in 1989 and says he told Stewart about it, which Stewart and his management denied. Seger recorded it again in 2011. Everything but the Girl also recorded it in 1989, and their version was used in the 2014 finale of How I Met Your Mother.

Waits told the writer Bill Flanagan that he tried to make it sound like a pop song. Stephen Hodges noted that Waits tried it first with the core Rain Dogs band and then brought in session players, including guitarist G.E. Smith and bassist Tony Levin. Mickey Curry added on drums, Robert Quine on guitar and Robbie Kilgore on organ. Richardson of Pitchfork notes that Rod Stewart and Bob Seger recorded the song at almost the same time.