Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits, in Pomona, California, on December 7, 19… Read Full Bio ↴Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits, in Pomona, California, on December 7, 1949) is a prolific American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor.

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."

Black Wings
Tom Waits Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

He rides through your dreams on a coach and horses
And the fenceposts in the moonlight look like bones

Well they've stopped trying to hold him
With mortar, stone and chain
He broke out of every prison
When the boots mount the staircase
And the door is flung back open
He's not there for he has risen
He's not there for he has risen

Some say he once killed a man with a guitar string
He's been seen at the table with kings
Well, he once saved a baby from drowning
There are those who say beneath his coat there are wings
Well, some say they fear him

Well, some say they fear him
Others admire him
Because he steals his promise
But one look in his eye
And everyone denies
Ever having met him
Ever having met him

He can turn himself into a stranger
Well, they broke a lot of canes on his hide
He was born away in a cornfield
A fever beats in his head just like a drum inside

Some say they fear him
Others admire him
Because he steals his promise
But one look in his eye
Everyone denies
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Ever having met him

Ever having met him
Ever having met him

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to the song "Black Wings" by Tom Waits are rich in poetic imagery and metaphors that create a dark, mysterious atmosphere. The song is about a mysterious figure who has risen above conventional laws and constraints, and moves through society like a ghost. The opening line, "take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, just like they say in the Bible," sets the tone for the lawless, ruthless character that is being described. This figure doesn't forget a face or leave a trace, suggesting a powerful, almost supernatural ability to elude detection.

The chorus of the song reinforces the mythical quality of this character, who rides through people's dreams on a "coach and horses" and whose arrival is announced by the "fence posts in the moonlight" that "look like bones." The lyrics suggest that this character is impossible to contain, having broken out of every attempt to capture him. The repetition of the line "he's not there for he has risen" is an eerie reminder that this figure moves outside the bounds of normal life.

The verses of the song are filled with anecdotes and rumors about this character, including the suggestion that he once killed a man with a guitar string and that some believe he has wings beneath his coat. Despite the fear that some feel towards him, there's an undeniable allure to his freedom and independence. The closing of the song speaks to the power this character holds, as "one look in his eye" is enough to make people deny ever having met him, emphasizing the character's otherworldliness.

Overall, "Black Wings" is a haunting, poetic exploration of a figure who exists outside of the rules that govern society, and the mystique that surrounds him.

Line by Line Meaning

Well, take an eye for an eye
Retaliate with equal force

A tooth for a tooth
Retaliate with equal force

Just like they say in the Bible
The biblical phrase encourages retribution

Well, never leave a trace or forget a face
Never forget those who have wronged you

Of any man at the table
At any gathering

When the moon is a cold chiseled dagger
During eerie, dark nights

And it's sharp enough to draw blood from a stone
The night is dangerous and full of risks

He rides through your dreams on a coach and horses
He appears in people's dreams, like a ghost

And the fenceposts in the moonlight look like bones
The surrounding area appears sinister and unnerving

Well they've stopped trying to hold him
Authorities have given up capturing him

With mortar, stone and chain
Using various forms of prison to hold him

He broke out of every prison
He escaped from every form of imprisonment

When the boots mount the staircase
When the authorities come to apprehend him

And the door is flung back open
He has already left and escaped

He's not there for he has risen
He cannot be contained, he is free

Some say he once killed a man with a guitar string
He is rumored to have committed violent acts

He's been seen at the table with kings
Despite his reputation, he has been seen in high society

Well, he once saved a baby from drowning
He has done good deeds as well

There are those who say beneath his coat there are wings
Some people believe he has supernatural abilities

Well, some say they fear him
Some people are afraid of him

Others admire him
Some people respect him for his deeds and reputation

Because he steals his promise
He cannot be trusted and often breaks promises

But one look in his eye
His appearance can leave a lasting impression

And everyone denies
They refuse to acknowledge or admit their encounter

Ever having met him
They deny ever encountering him before

He can turn himself into a stranger
He can change his appearance to avoid identification

Well, they broke a lot of canes on his hide
He has endured physical punishment and abuse

He was born away in a cornfield
His origins are unknown and mysterious

A fever beats in his head just like a drum inside
He is driven by an uncontrollable urge or passion

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: KATHLEEN BRENNAN, THOMAS ALAN WAITS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

Chris Jarrett

1y↑1

Well, take an eye for an eye
A tooth for a tooth
Just like they say in the Bible
Well, never leave a trace or forget a face
Of any man at the table
Any man at the table
When the moon is a cold chiseled dagger
And it's sharp enough to draw blood from a stone
He rides through your dreams on a coach and horses
And the fenceposts in the moonlight look like bones
Well they've stopped trying to hold him
With mortar, stone and chain
He broke out of every prison
When the boots mount the staircase
And the door is flung back open
He's not there for he has risen
He's not there for he has risen
Some say he once killed a man with a guitar string
He's been seen at the table with kings
Well, he once saved a baby from drowning
There are those who say beneath his coat there are wings
Well, some say they fear him
Well, some say they fear him
Others admire him
Because he steals his promise
But one look in his eye
And everyone denies
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
He can turn himself into a stranger
Well, they broke a lot of canes on his hide
He was born away in a cornfield
A fever beats in his head just like a drum inside
Some say they fear him
Others admire him
Because he steals his promise
But one look in his eye
Everyone denies
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Ever having met him
Ever having met him

All comments from YouTube:

e.e.gravewalkr

2y↑21

“When the moon is a cold, chiseled dagger.. And it’s sharp enough to draw blood from a stone..”
Just awesome

OWL Teacher Education

3y↑20

One of my favourite songs by our man - dark, brooding aural menace, genius mix of words and music. Still hoping for more work from Mr Waits - an international treasure.