You rarely ever see Tom Waits on late-night television anymore, and perhaps this is the reason why: Here we have two different clips from Waits’ visits to Late Night with David Letterman, one from 1983 to support Swordfishtrombones and perform a kick-ass rendition of “Frank’s Wild Years” (above video), the other in 1986 during the release of Rain Dogs (after the jump). Waits and Letterman trade joke for joke, and it seems like Letterman has a real familiarity with the gravel-voiced singer, and for good reason: As you’ll notice in both videos, a much-hairier Letterman asks Waits the same questions, from being born in the back of a cab to living in his car when he moved to Los Angeles. Thankfully, Waits’ answer makes us laugh both times.