He started his career in the early 1970s as a singer in spit 'n' sawdust bars. Initially, he was deeply influenced by the beat generation, novelists like Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, and poets like Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski. Waits is often compared to Charles Bukowski, being similar both in content and lifestyle
Waits was unable to make a living from his music in the 70s because his classical bar music, based in pre-rock, and Americana, blues, and Vaudeville styles were not popular. Waits's voice back then was soft, warm and clear.
Waits subsequently developed a devoted cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters, despite having little radio or music video support. In fact, his songs are perhaps best known to the general public in the form of cover versions of more visible artists, such as the Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart.
Although Waits’s albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries.
Lyrically, Waits's songs are known for atmospheric portrayals of seedy characters and places; he sings about the losers on the streets: alcoholics, junkies, prostitutes and social outcasts, although he also includes more conventional and touching ballads in his repertoire.
While opening for Frank Zappa, the audience catcalled and refused to listen to him; he was an unsuitable match with Zappa's avantgarde style.
Countless cigarettes, gallons of alcohol and many all night parties eventually left their trace in his face and voice.
His more recent gravelly voice can be first heard on Small Change. This distinctive voice turned out to be his trademark. It is described by the Music Hound Rock Album Guide as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car". Small Change with its sentimental ballads, its bar-jazz attitude and Film Noir-oriented stories turned out to be his biggest commercial success in the 1970s.
Waits subsequently developed a more unique style. His songs have grown more abrasive since then, and the arrangements have turned more surreal and experimental with every new record. His life brings him to new visions, as indicated by the direction taken in his "Alice" release.
While composing the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's One From The Heart Waits met Kathleen Brennan, his bride-to-be. They married in 1980 and she helped him quit drinking and smoking. Since their marriage they have been working together on his albums as co-producers and co-writers. It is hard to say which part belongs to her and which to him, but it's easy to see that they make a perfect team. Additionally, his eldest son Casey can be heard on turntables and percussion on Waits's album "Real Gone".
One of Waits's greatest successes was the album "Swordfishtrombones", released in 1983. It struck with his critics and fans alike. He achieved a new level of song writing and left former conventions (and his earlier career) behind. All songs, whether ballads, jive or jazz are played in a completely different way. It seems that Waits had taken the musical archetypes of these styles and made them his own. All tracks are in the quintessential Waits style. They have a striking rawness and listenability and they set the stage for his success and his future career.
The Bad As Me Songfacts reports that 36 years after the release of Waits' first album, Closing Time in 1973, Bad As Me became Waits's first ever top 10 album in the US when it debuted at #6 with 63,000 sales.
In the late 1980s Waits discovered an outlet for his creativity in composing musicals. His first Musical was named "The Black Rider", and is based on "Der Freischütz" by Carl Maria von Weber. It was co-produced by Robert Wilson and the lyrics come from William S. Burroughs. The story is slightly reminiscent of Kurt Weil's and Berthold Brecht's "Three Penny Opera" and the 1930s. The debut performance of the play was in 1990 at the Thalia Theater, Hamburg and has been played by various theatre groups since then.
Waits was also responsible for two other musicals, which later became albums released simultaneously in 2002. One was the musical "Blood Money," which covers the "Woyczek" theme of Georg Büchner. This one is one of the darkest works from Waits. The other musical is based on Lewis Carroll's classic children's novel, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". "Alice" is very romantic, dreamy and soft, and contains one of Waits most romantic songs. Even though they were released at the same time, the bootlegs of the "Alice" musical were long before traded between fans and were just rearranged and re-mastered for the official release.
Besides many film contributions as composer – the Internet Movie Database imdb.com lists 47 appearances of Waits as composer and 38 soundtracks containing songs by Waits - he also is an actor with a total of 25 appearances, ranging from some mini-roles as a trumpeter in "Heart of Saturday Night" and the R. M. Renfield in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" to the major role of Zack in Jim Jarmusch's "Down by Law". He recently appeared in Roberto Benigni's "The Tiger and the Snow", playing You Can Never Hold Back Spring at Benigni's wedding dream. Even more recently, Waits played Mr.Nick (the Devil) in Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus".
In addition to a number of concert videos, he also appeared in the critically-acclaimed concert feature film "Big Time" (1990).
Waits has always refused to allow the use of his songs in commercials. He has filed several lawsuits against advertisers for using his material without permission. Waits also successfully sued an advertiser for using a work that was stylistically similar to his work, after he had declined to sell them the rights to his song. He has been quoted as saying, "Apparently the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad — ideally naked and purring on the hood of a new car. I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor."
Romeo Is Bleeding
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He's over on 18th street as usual
Looking so hatd against the hood of his car
Ans putting out a cigarette in his hand
And for all the pachucos at the pumps
At romeros paint and body
They all seein' how far they can spit
Well it was just another night
But now they're huddled in the brake lights of a '58 Belair
And listenin' how romeo killed a sheriff with his knife
And they all jump when they hear the sirens
But romeo just laughs and says
All the racket in the world ain't never gonna
Save that coppers ass
He'll never see another summertime for gunnin' down my
Brother
And leavin' him like a dog beneath a car without his knife
And Romeo says hey man gimme a cigarette
And they all reach for their pack
And Frankie lights it for him and pats him on the back
And throws a bottle at a milk truck
And as it breaks he graps his nuts
And they all know they could've just like romeo
If they only had the guts
But romeo is bleeding but nobody can tell
And he sings along with the radio
With a bullet in his chest
And he combs back his fenders
And they all agree its clear
That everything is cool now that romeos here
But romeo is bleeding
And he winches now and then and he leans against
The car door and feels the blood in his shoes
And someones crying in the phone booth
At the five points by the store
Romeo starts his engine
And wipes the blood of the door
And he brodys through the signal
With the radio full blast
Leavin' the boys there hikin' up their chinos
And they all try to stand like romeo
Beneath the moon cut like a sicle
And they're talkin' now in Spanish about their hero
But Romeo is bleeding as he gives the man his ticket
And he climbs to the balcony at the movies
And he'll die without a wimper
Like every hero's dream
Just an angel with a bullet
And Cagney in the screen
The lyrics to Tom Waits's "Romeo Is Bleeding" tell the story of a tough and violent man named Romeo who is bleeding but determined to keep going. He is depicted smoking and surrounded by other men, and Jackson Browne sings a background chorus to the sounds of police sirens. The story describes Romeo killing a sheriff with his knife and reveling in his revenge, feeling that justice has been done for the death of his brother. The song portrays Romeo's bravery and coldness in the face of death and suggests that he is a hero of sorts for those around him.
The lyrics of the song create a vivid picture of a tough yet glorified character who is willing to take on the law and exact revenge for his family. He is willing to risk his life to do what he believes is right, even in the face of imminent danger. Throughout the song, there is the contrast between the violence and toughness of Romeo and the emotional depth implied by the song's title "Romeo Is Bleeding". This creates a sense of tension and drama that adds to the overall effect of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Romeo is bleeding but not so as you'd notice
Romeo is hurt but he's hiding it well
He's over on 18th street as usual
He's in his usual spot on 18th street
Looking so hatd against the hood of his car
He's leaning hard against the hood of his car
Ans putting out a cigarette in his hand
He's extinguishing a cigarette in his hand
And for all the pachucos at the pumps
And for all the Latino tough guys at the gas station
At romeros paint and body
At Romeo's auto body shop
They all seein' how far they can spit
They're all competing to see who can spit the farthest
Well it was just another night
It was just a typical night
But now they're huddled in the brake lights of a '58 Belair
But now they're gathered around the brake lights of a 1958 Chevrolet Bel Air
And listenin' how romeo killed a sheriff with his knife
And listening to how Romeo killed a sheriff with his knife
And they all jump when they hear the sirens
And they all startle when they hear the sirens
But romeo just laughs and says
But Romeo just laughs and says
All the racket in the world ain't never gonna
No amount of noise is ever going to
Save that coppers ass
Save that cop's ass
He'll never see another summertime for gunnin' down my
He'll never see another summer for killing my
Brother
Brother
And leavin' him like a dog beneath a car without his knife
And leaving him like a dog under a car without his knife
And Romeo says hey man gimme a cigarette
And Romeo says hey man give me a cigarette
And they all reach for their pack
And they all reach for their pack of cigarettes
And Frankie lights it for him and pats him on the back
And Frankie lights Romeo's cigarette and pats him on the back
And throws a bottle at a milk truck
And throws a bottle at a milk truck
And as it breaks he graps his nuts
And as it breaks he grabs his crotch
And they all know they could've just like romeo
And they all know they could be like Romeo
If they only had the guts
If they only had the courage
But romeo is bleeding but nobody can tell
Romeo is bleeding but no one can tell
And he sings along with the radio
And he sings along with the radio
With a bullet in his chest
With a bullet in his chest
And he combs back his fenders
And he straightens out his car's fenders
And they all agree its clear
And they all agree that it's clear
That everything is cool now that romeos here
That everything is cool now that Romeo is here
Romeo starts his engine
Romeo starts his car's engine
And wipes the blood of the door
And wipes the blood off the car's door
And he brodys through the signal
And he speeds through the traffic signal
With the radio full blast
With the radio turned all the way up
Leavin' the boys there hikin' up their chinos
Leaving the boys there hiking up their pants
And they all try to stand like romeo
And they all try to stand like Romeo
Beneath the moon cut like a sicle
Under the crescent moon
And they're talkin' now in Spanish about their hero
And they're talking in Spanish about their hero
And he climbs to the balcony at the movies
And he climbs to the balcony at the movies
And he'll die without a wimper
And he'll die without a whimper
Like every hero's dream
Like every hero's dream
Just an angel with a bullet
Just an angel with a bullet
And Cagney in the screen
And James Cagney on the movie screen
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: TOM WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind