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."
Emotional Weather Report
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With a chance of fog
Chance of showers into the afternoon
With variable high cloudiness
And gusty winds, gusty winds
At times around the corner of
Sunset and Alvorado
Things are tough all over
Increasing over the southeast
And south central portions
Of my apartment, I get upset
And a line of thunderstorms was
Developing in the early morning
Ahead of a slow moving cold front
Cold blooded
With tornado watches issued shortly
Before noon Sunday, for the areas
Including, the western region
Of my mental health
And the northern portions of my
Ability to deal rationally with my
Disconcerted precarious emotional
Situation, it's cold out there
Colder than a ticket taker's smile
At the Ivar Theatre, on a Saturday night
Flash flood watches covered the
Southern portion of my disposition
There was no severe weather well
Into the afternoon, except for a lone gust of
Wind in the bedroom
In a high pressure zone, covering the eastern
Portion of a small suburban community
With a hundred and three and millibar high pressure zone
And a weak pressure ridge extending from
My eyes down to my cheeks cause since
You left me baby
And put the vice grips on my mental health
Well the extended outlook for an
Indefinite period of time until you
Come back to me baby is high tonight
Low tomorrow, and precipitation is
Expected
"Emotional Weather Report" is a song by Tom Waits, released on his album "Nighthawks at the Diner." The lyrics of the song describe the singer's emotional state using weather-related metaphors. The song starts by talking about the weather forecast which predicts low clouds, fog and a chance of showers in the afternoon with variable high cloudiness and gusty winds. However, the singer's focus isn't on the weather outside, but rather his internal emotional state.
The song illustrates how the singer’s upset mood is like a thunderstorm that is increasing over the southeast and south-central portions of his apartment. As the morning progresses, the singer’s mental state is represented by the development of a line of thunderstorms ahead of a slow-moving cold front. Tornado watches are issued shortly before noon Sunday for the western region of his mental health and the northern portions of his ability to deal rationally with his disconcerted precarious emotional situation.
The song continues in the same vein, metaphorically associating the singer's emotional state with various weather conditions, including flash flood warnings, high-pressure zones, and weak pressure ridges. Overall, the song conveys the ups and downs of the singer's emotional state, as well as the unpredictability and uncontrollability of human emotions, which can feel just as tumultuous as the weather.
Line by Line Meaning
Late night and early morning low clouds
The situation is in a state of uncertainty, which might end up being low and depressing
With a chance of fog
The situation might lead to a strong sense of confusion and unclear judgement
Chance of showers into the afternoon
The situation could get worse with incoming troubles and a sense of being overwhelmed
With variable high cloudiness
The situation has various outcomes, some might be good and some might be bad
And gusty winds, gusty winds
The situation is unpredictable and the circumstances are constantly changing
At times around the corner of Sunset and Alvorado
The situation is more difficult in certain specific areas at certain times
Things are tough all over
The situation is distressful or hard for everyone, it's a general problem
When the thunder storms start
The situation becomes more intense and severe, making it worse than it already is
Increasing over the southeast
The situation is getting worse and spreading to a larger area
And south central portions of my apartment, I get upset
The situation is causing a lot of stress and anxiety in a particular part of me
And a line of thunderstorms was
The situation is becoming increasingly menacing, with imminent danger
Developing in the early morning
The situation is starting to deteriorate and it's not even the worst yet
Ahead of a slow moving cold front
The situation is moving towards a phase where everything might come to a halt
Cold blooded
The situation looks like it has no compassion or mercy, being ruthless and unforgiving
With tornado watches issued shortly
The situation is really bad and there's a potential for a devastating event to happen
Before noon Sunday, for the areas
The situation is going to be extremely challenging and harrowing for certain specific areas and the people in them
Including, the western region
The situation is going to be most severe in this particular area
Of my mental health
The situation is affecting the state of my mind and causing me distress
And the northern portions of my
The situation is affecting another part of me which is the vulnerable side
Ability to deal rationally with my
The situation is making it hard for me to think and act under the present circumstances
Disconcerted precarious emotional
The situation is making me feel unstable and uncertain in my emotional state
Situation, it's cold out there
The situation represents an environment of harshness and difficulty
Colder than a ticket taker's smile
The situation feels unwelcoming and lacking any warmth or friendliness
At the Ivar Theatre, on a Saturday night
The situation is unwelcoming and hostile even in a social or friendly setting
Flash flood watches covered the
The situation is dangerously close to disaster and catastrophic eventuality
Southern portion of my disposition
The situation has a negative effect on a part of me, possibly my mood or attitude
There was no severe weather well
The situation is as bad as it could have been, but it's not the worst just yet
Into the afternoon, except for a lone gust of
The situation is stable for now, but it's still not free of trouble
Wind in the bedroom
The situation has personal implications and affects my home environment as well
In a high pressure zone, covering the eastern
The situation is under a lot of pressure and stress, which will be hard to bear
Portion of a small suburban community
The situation is contained in a specific area and it's not spreading as far as it could have been
With a hundred and three and millibar high pressure zone
The situation is really intense and unstable, being characterized by extreme tension
And a weak pressure ridge extending from
The situation is not completely secure and stable, there's still a potential for trouble
My eyes down to my cheeks cause since
The situation is causing a lot of sadness and tears to flow
You left me baby
The situation is caused due to a break-up or a separation which has been hard to bear
And put the vice grips on my mental health
The situation is causing me a lot of distress and affecting my mental well-being negatively
Well the extended outlook for an
The situation is likely to persist for an extended period of time and it doesn't look positive
Indefinite period of time until you
The situation is going to continue as long as it takes for you to come back
Come back to me baby is high tonight
The situation is really intense and difficult to handle, being characterized by extreme pressure and stress
Low tomorrow, and precipitation is
The situation is expected to improve in the future, but only after it gets really bad
Expected
The situation is anticipated and not unpredictable
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: TOM WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bloodybagal
Late night and early morning low clouds
With a chance of fog
Chance of showers into the afternoon
With variable high cloudiness
And gusty winds, gusty winds
At times around the corner of
Sunset and Alvorado
Things are tough all over
When the thunder storms start
Increasing over the southeast
And south central portions
Of my apartment, I get upset
And a line of thunderstorms was
Developing in the early morning
Ahead of a slow moving cold front
Cold blooded
With tornado watches issued shortly
Before noon Sunday, for the areas
Including, the western region
Of my mental health
And the northern portions of my
Ability to deal rationally with my
Disconcerted precarious emotional
Situation, it's cold out there
Colder than a ticket taker's smile
At the Ivar Theatre, on a Saturday night
Flash flood watches covered the
Southern portion of my disposition
There was no severe weather well
Into the afternoon, except for a lone gust of
Wind in the bedroom
In a high pressure zone, covering the eastern
Portion of a small suburban community
With a hundred and three and millibar high pressure zone
And a weak pressure ridge extending from
My eyes down to my cheeks cause since
You left me baby
And put the vice grips on my mental health
Well the extended outlook for an
Indefinite period of time until you
Come back to me baby is high tonight
Low tomorrow, and precipitation is
Expected
@rb8460
His way with words is unequaled. I am a teacher and I use a lot of his lyrics in my writing classes as examples of how creative you can be and how much fun you can have with the language.
@donnie7421
In college, I wrote a fictional paper about spending the day with him, and wove some of his lyrics into the story. My teacher loved the paper, but had never heard of him. I let her take this cd home for the weekend and she said it changed her life. I said welcome to the club...nighthawks is easily in my top 10 list of all time best albums
@julieswiss1
You know he writes the lyrics with Kathleen Brennan, right? One of them starts writing, the other completes de verse.
@Nate-cg9mm
I've always known there were teachers out there, keeping Tom Waits alive. His work should definitely be in classrooms across the globe. Hopefully globe is still the correct term... lol. If we're teaching the word of Mr. Tom Waits there's more than hope.
@alicedesmond4336
“It’s cold out there”. I love the way he uses weather words to describe his emotions. Descriptively brilliant.
@spyrogira1111
Here I am living in Irish small town. And all what I wish after long working week is to went to a bar and listen music like this. To be wasted (I am already wounded) but I've no chance. So I stay home and get drunk in good companionship. Mr. Waits and myself. Cheers.
@50danohi
First time I really listened to him.. Wow why did I Waits so long?
@Tuzilla
I saw him on Halloween in a small place in East Lansing, Mi back in the 70s. It was very unique and awesome.
@yelsnab
a brilliant album
@onestepbeyond7240
High tonight
Low tommorow
And precipitation is expected.
Who hasn't seen those conditions ?