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."
Fall of Troy
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nothing wants to die
Evelyn James they killed in a game
With guns too big for their hands
Just off St. Charles in No-Mans Land
And you'll have to find your own way home, boys
You'll have to find your own way home
Shot dead in March with a robbery
His brother started out to hell and to ruin
Troy's killer was never caught they say
Young nick he just went bad that day
Now he'll have to find his own way home, boys
He'll have to find his own way home
Why cook dinner?
Why make my bed?
Why come home at all?
Out the door and through the woods
There is a world where nothing grows
It's hard to say grace and to sit in the place
Of someone missing at the table
Mom's hair sprayed tight
And her face in her hands
Watching TV for answers to me
After all she's only human
And she's trying to find her own way home, boys
She's trying to find her own way home
My legs ache
My heart is sore
The well is full of pennies
The Fall of Troy by Tom Waits is a poignant and thought-provoking song that delves into the idea that life is unpredictable and chaotic. The song’s narrator starts with the statement: “It's the same with men as with horses and dogs. Nothing wants to die.”, which suggests that all lifeforms share a natural instinct for survival. However, that same survival impulse can push individuals, especially young men, towards recklessness and violence. The second verse of the song tells the story of two brothers. Troy, the older one, was shot dead during a robbery in March, and his killer was never caught. Troy’s younger brother, Nick, sets out on a path of ruin and self-destruction. The lyrics “Now he’ll have to find his own way home, boys, he’ll have to find his own way home” are repeated throughout the song and serve as a reminder of the ultimate loneliness and self-reliance that is required in life.
The third verse talks about the singer’s disillusionment with domestic life. He questions the point of cooking dinner, making his bed, or even coming home at all. The line “Out the door and through the woods, there is a world where nothing grows” speaks to the need for adventure and the dissatisfaction with a predictable, stagnant existence. The fourth and final verse is about the singer’s mother. She is depicted as a grieving and overwhelmed figure who is trying to come to terms with her son’s death. The line “After all she's only human and she's trying to find her own way home, boys, she's trying to find her own way home” shows that even though she is older and wiser, she is still grappling with the fundamental human struggle to find one’s own place in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
It's the same with men as with horses and dogs
Death is a universal fear across all living beings.
Nothing wants to die
Even though death is inevitable, no living being welcomes it.
Evelyn James they killed in a game
A person named Evelyn James was killed during a game.
With guns too big for their hands
The guns used to kill Evelyn James were not suitable for the people who used them.
Just off St. Charles in No-Mans Land
Evelyn James was killed in a desolate area named No-Mans Land near St. Charles.
And you'll have to find your own way home, boys
The people involved in the killing will not receive any help, and must find their own way home.
The oldest was Troy, an eighteen year-old boy
Troy was the oldest member of a family, aged 18.
Shot dead in March with a robbery
Troy was killed during a robbery in March.
His brother started out to hell and to ruin
Troy's brother began a self-destructive path after his death.
Troy's killer was never caught they say
The murderer who killed Troy was not caught by authorities.
Young nick he just went bad that day
A person named Nick turned to a life of crime on the same day Troy was killed.
Now he'll have to find his own way home, boys
Nick is not allowed to seek help or receive assistance, and must find his own way in life.
Why cook dinner?
The singer ponders why dinner should be cooked.
Why make my bed?
The singer questions whether making the bed is necessary.
Why come home at all?
The singer questions the purpose of coming home altogether.
Out the door and through the woods
The singer leaves the house and goes through the woods.
There is a world where nothing grows
The world outside the house is dead, and nothing can grow there.
It's hard to say grace and to sit in the place
It is difficult to pray and sit in a spot left empty by someone who has passed away.
Of someone missing at the table
The empty spot at the dinner table is due to someone who is no longer alive.
Mom's hair sprayed tight
The singer's mother has styled her hair using hair spray.
And her face in her hands
The mother is holding her face in her hands, possibly due to grief.
Watching TV for answers to me
The mother is watching television, possibly looking for answers for her own problems.
After all she's only human
The mother is flawed like any other human.
And she's trying to find her own way home, boys
The mother is struggling to find her own path in life, and cannot help anyone else in the process.
My legs ache
The singer's legs are tired and in pain.
My heart is sore
The singer is experiencing emotional pain and heartache.
The well is full of pennies
The well has plenty of money in it, but the singer's problems cannot be solved by riches.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KATHLEEN BRENNAN, THOMAS ALAN WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@noesunyoutuber7680
It's finally clicked to me why The Fall of Troy named a song "Tom Waits."
@windchimes4227
Living in St. Charles, this gives off folktale kind of feeling each time I hear this story/song
@bargolyr8660
à pleurer . .
@ryerichards4885
Long Live Reggie. Redge Forever
@bargolyr8660
ce qu elle est belle celle là . . .
@giovanni-dz6wt
Numero uno
@kandicedrinks8508
My sons grandfather looks very similar to Tom Waits
@stagehand9002
the well sure is filled with pennies........