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."
Ain’t goin’ down to the well
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I sold opium, fireworks and lead
Now I'm telling my troubles to strangers
When the shadows get long I'll be dead
Now her hair was as black as a bucket of tar
Skin was as white as a cuttlefish bone
I left Texas to follow Lucinda
I made a wish on silver of moonlight
A sly grin and a bowl full of stars
Like a kid who captures a firefly
And leaves it only to die in the jar
As I kick at the clounds at my hanging
As I swing out over the crowd
I will search every face for Lucinda's
And she will off with me down to hell
I thought I'd broke loose of Lucinda
The rain returned and so did the wind
I cast this burden on the god that's within me
I leave this old world and go free
The devil dances inside empty pockets
But she never wanted money or pearls
No, that wasn't enough for Lucinda
She wasn't that kind of girl
Now I've fallen from grace for Lucinda
Whoever thought that hell would be so cold
I did well for an old tin can sailor
But she wanted the bell in my soul
I've spoken to God on the mountain
And I've swam in the Irish sea
I ate fire and drank from the Ganges
And I'll beg there for mercy for me
I thought I'd broke loose of Lucinda
The rain returned and so did the wind
I was standing outside the Whitehorse
Oh but I was afraid to go in
I heard someone pull the trigger
Her breasts heaved in the moonlight again
There was a smear of gold in the window
And then I was the jewel of her sin
They call me William The Pleaser
I sold opium, fireworks and lead
Now I'm telling my troubles to strangers
When the shadows get long I'll be dead
Now her hair was as black as a bucket of tar
Skin was as white as a cuttlefish bone
I left Texas to follow Lucinda
Now I'll never see heaven or home
No I'll never see heaven or home
No I'll never see heaven or home
Tom Waits's song Ain’t goin’ down to the well tells the story of a man named William The Pleaser, who sold opium, fireworks, and lead. The character of William is a tragic figure who has lost everything, including his home and possibly his sanity. He is searching for the woman named Lucinda, whom he left Texas to follow but will never see again. Through the lyrics, it is revealed that Lucinda may have been a mistress or someone who led him astray, and William has fallen from grace for her love.
The song is a haunting tale of a man who has lost everything because of his love for a woman. The lyrics are incredibly poetic and use vivid imagery to convey William's pain and sorrow. The tune itself is a blend of traditional folk, blues, and jazz, with Waits's unique raspy voice adding to the melancholic tone.
Some of the key themes in the song include the search for love and acceptance, the loss of innocence, and the tragedy of unrequited love. The lyrics also touch upon the surreal and existential themes of life and death.
Line by Line Meaning
Well they call me William The Pleaser
I am a man who is known for selling drugs, fireworks and toxic metals.
Now I'm telling my troubles to strangers
Despite my reputation, I feel the need to confide in people who I have no connection to.
When the shadows get long I'll be dead
I don't have much time left to live and will soon perish.
Now her hair was as black as a bucket of tar
She had very dark hair, almost the same color as tar.
Skin was as white as a cuttlefish bone
Her skin was extremely pale, resembling the bone of a cuttlefish.
Now I'll never see heaven or home
I will never be able to see my home or experience Heaven's joys.
I made a wish on silver of moonlight
I wished upon the luminous light of the moon, hoping it would come true.
Like a kid who captures a firefly
I was like a child who catches a firefly, yet puts it in a jar until it dies.
And leaves it only to die in the jar
Just like the firefly, my wishes will not come to fruition and will be trapped and killed.
As I swing out over the crowd
As I am hanging, swinging above the crowd.
I will search every face for Lucinda's
I will look at every individual's face, searching for Lucinda's in the crowd.
And she will off with me down to hell
Lucinda and I will descend to Hell together.
The rain returned and so did the wind
The rain and wind both have returned, renewing my burdens and struggles.
I thought I'd broke loose of Lucinda
I believed I had freed myself from Lucinda and our entanglement.
But she wanted the bell in my soul
Lucinda desired the very essence of my being.
They call me William The Pleaser
My well-known name is William The Pleaser.
I was standing outside the Whitehorse
I was standing outside the Whitehorse tavern.
Oh but I was afraid to go in
I was hesitant and fearful to enter the Whitehorse tavern.
There was a smear of gold in the window
There was a golden mark or blemish on the window of the tavern.
And then I was the jewel of her sin
I became a treasured object of Lucinda's wrongdoing or sin.
No I'll never see heaven or home
I won't be able to experience the afterlife in Heaven or return to my home.
The devil dances inside empty pockets
The devil often triumphs in those who are poor or destitute.
But she never wanted money or pearls
Lucinda was not interested in financial wealth or material possessions.
Whoever thought that hell would be so cold
Hell is commonly associated with hotter temperatures, but in actuality, it is cold and desolate.
I did well for an old tin can sailor
As a seasoned sailor, I was successful in my endeavors despite my initially humble beginnings.
I cast this burden on the god that's within me
I let go of this weighty burden and entrusted it to the inner strength within me.
And I'll beg there for mercy for me
I will plead and request mercy on my behalf.
I've spoken to God on the mountain
I have had dialogue with God while atop a mountain.
And I've swam in the Irish sea
I have swam and enjoyed the waters of the Irish sea.
I ate fire and drank from the Ganges
I partook in the dangerous practice of eating fire and drank from the sacred River Ganges.
No I'll never see heaven or home
I will not be able to visit my heavenly abode nor my earthly home again.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ALAN LOMAX, HUDDIE LEDBETTER, JOHN A. LOMAX
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
F. Lab.
Great material, glad to see some rare footage, but It's probably not 1982, more like early 2000s.
edit: I just checked, this is not from poetry in motion, it seems it's from "Freedom Highway: Songs that Shaped a Century" (2001) instead but I'm not really sure.
Melanie Lane
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
tomigunn777
Where Can I see the full doc???