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."
Everything Goes To Hell
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A man has only one thing on his mind
Why ask politely, why go lightly, why say
Please?
They only want to get you on your knees
There are a few things I never could believe
A woman when she weeps
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven when
You're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway
Laissez-faire mi amour, c'est la vie
Shall I return to shore or swim back out to
Sea?
The world don't care what a soldier does in
Town
It's all hanging in the windows by the
Pound
There are few things I never could believe
A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven when
You're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway
I only want to hear your purr and to hear
You moan
There is another man who brings the money
Home
I don't want dishes in the sink
Please don't tell me what you feel or what
You think
There are few things I never could believe
The lyrics to Tom Waits's "Everything Goes to Hell" are a cynical commentary on the futility of being good in a world that is inherently corrupt. Waits sings about why there is no point in being sweet, careful, kind, or polite because ultimately everyone wants to bring you down to your knees. He goes on to explain that there are many things he can't believe, such as a woman when she weeps, a merchant when he swears, a thief who says he will pay, and a lawyer when he cares. He then concludes that he doesn't believe in going to heaven when you're good because everything goes to hell anyway.
The lyrics seem to suggest that no matter how hard you try to be good and do the right thing, the world will always find a way to bring you down. Even the most seemingly trustworthy individuals are not to be trusted, like the lawyer who cares or the thief who promises to pay. The repeated line "everything goes to hell" underscores the feeling of hopelessness and despair that pervades throughout the song.
In the last stanza, Waits sings about his desire to only hear his partner's purr and moan, and how there is another man who brings the money home. He doesn't want to hear about her feelings or thoughts, and he doesn't want dishes piling up in the sink. This verse underscores the idea that in a world where everything goes to hell, people can become selfish and only care about their own desires and needs.
Overall, "Everything Goes to Hell" is a bleak and cynical song that offers a commentary on the human condition and the corrupt nature of the world we live in.
Line by Line Meaning
Why be sweet, why be careful, why be kind?
Why bother being kind and considerate when all that really matters is fulfilling our own desires?
A man has only one thing on his mind
Men are driven solely by their sexual desires.
Why ask politely, why go lightly, why say Please?
There's no point in being polite or asking nicely when others are just looking to take advantage of you.
They only want to get you on your knees
People will do whatever it takes to gain the upper hand, even if it means forcing you to submit.
There are a few things I never could believe
There are certain things in life that are impossible to accept or reconcile.
A woman when she weeps
It's difficult to believe a woman's tears are genuine, as they may be used for manipulation.
A merchant when he swears
It's hard to trust when someone is trying to sell you something, especially when they swear it's the truth.
A thief who says he'll pay
It's unlikely that a thief who has already taken what they wanted would actually pay for it.
A lawyer when he cares
It's hard to believe a lawyer truly cares about their clients when they're primarily interested in winning the case.
A snake when he is sleeping
A snake is always deceptive, even when it appears to be at rest.
A drunkard when he prays
It's hard to believe that someone who drinks to excess can truly be sincere when they pray.
I don't believe you go to heaven when You're good
Measuring someone's goodness doesn't necessarily ensure that they'll avoid punishment for their sins.
Everything goes to hell, anyway
No matter how good of a person you are or how hard you try, your fate may still be doomed.
Laissez-faire mi amour, c'est la vie
A laissez-faire attitude towards life is necessary; such is life.
Shall I return to shore or swim back out to Sea?
Should I keep living life the way it is, or should I go in search of something more?
The world don't care what a soldier does in Town
Even if you put your life on the line for your country, it doesn't guarantee safety or recognition when you return home.
It's all hanging in the windows by the Pound
Everything in life is bought, sold, and valued based on a system of currency.
I only want to hear your purr and to hear You moan
All I want from you is your physical pleasure.
There is another man who brings the money Home
I can't fulfill my own monetary needs, and rely on another man for financial support.
I don't want dishes in the sink
I want things done my way, on my terms.
Please don't tell me what you feel or what You think
I don't want to hear your thoughts or feelings if they don't align with my own desires.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: Kathleen Brennan, Thomas Alan Waits
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Super _ Coop
This is so moving, I've recently discovered Mr. Waits and his wounderful music, soulful voice and vivid lyrical imagry. I'm now a big fan!
Mauricio Ruiz
Why be sweet, why be careful, why be kind?
A man has only one thing on his mind
Why ask politely, why go lightly, why say
Please?
They only want to get you on your knees
There are a few things I never could believe
A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven when
You're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway
Laissez-faire mi amour, c'est la vie
Shall I return to shore or swim back out to
Sea?
The world don't care what a soldier does in
Town
It's all hanging in the windows by the
Pound
There are few things I never could believe
A woman when she weeps
A merchant when he swears
A thief who says he'll pay
A lawyer when he cares
A snake when he is sleeping
A drunkard when he prays
I don't believe you go to heaven when
You're good
Everything goes to hell, anyway
I only want to hear your purr and to hear
You moan
There is another man who brings the money
Home
I don't want dishes in the sink
Please don't tell me what you feel or what
You think
There are few things I never could believe
Steratore & Friends
One of the greatest songs of all time 🎶 🎵
Andrew Coffer
Let us all await the inevitable, and may we all have 30 minutes in heaven before the devil knows were dead.
Clumsy Dad
fantastic !
Joe Dietrich
I have this album on record……….unopened ;)
Callum Bush
My missus has only discovered Tom and she's besotted!
Daunte Mesman
Hell ain't so bad.
Phill Pauley
I hear this as a complaint about the way the world is by a guy that doesn't like the way things are but can't do anything to change any of it.
Jorge Gonzalez
This plays in a Smokey pool hall while satan runs a 9 ball rack on god 😈