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."
Goin
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
and looking at you
and going down, going down slow
Well It's a quarter a two
and looking at you
and going down, going down slow
TV went off about one, we have only begun
but I have no intention of going home
Well It's a quarter a three
digging on me
and going down, going down slow
Could stay here all night,
they claim your outta sight
please get up and turn out the light
There ain't nothing better than the middle of the night
And It's a quarter a four
begging for more
and going down, going down slow
going down, going down slow
going down, going down slow
going down, going down slow
The lyrics to Tom Waits's song "Goin' Out West" describe a night that he's spending with someone, likely a romantic interest. The song starts at a quarter to two, when Tom is looking at the person he's with and feeling a sense of slow descent. They've been watching TV and hanging out, and he's not ready to go home yet. As the night wears on, time blurs and it becomes a quarter to three, then a quarter to four. He's digging on the person he's with and begging for more.
The song has a distinct vibe of late-night desire and the slow, hypnotic passage of time. Waits's lyrics are full of double entendres and suggestive imagery, painting a picture of a steamy, sin-soaked night that never seems to end.
Overall, "Goin' Out West" is a song about indulgence and letting go, about losing yourself in the moment and not caring about the consequences. It's a dark, sultry track that captures the thrill and danger of being out after dark.
Line by Line Meaning
Well It's a quarter a two
It is currently 2:15 AM.
and looking at you
In your presence.
and going down, going down slow
Slowly becoming more intoxicated.
TV went off about one, we have only begun
The television turned off around 1 AM, but the night is still young.
I know that the Wednesday may come
Acknowledging that the night will eventually end and a new day will begin.
but I have no intention of going home
Not wanting to leave the current situation.
Well It's a quarter a three
It is now 3:15 AM.
digging on me
Enjoying one's company or being attracted to them.
and going down, going down slow
Continuing to drink and become more intoxicated.
Could stay here all night,
Expressing a desire to spend the entire night in the current location.
they claim your outta sight
Referring to something or someone that is excellent or impressive.
please get up and turn out the light
Asking someone to turn off the light before leaving.
There ain't nothing better than the middle of the night
The singer enjoys the late night hours and doesn't want it to end.
And It's a quarter a four
It is now 4:15 AM.
begging for more
Desiring more drinks or more time to stay out.
and going down, going down slow
Continuing to drink and likely become more intoxicated.
going down, going down slow
Repeating the previous line to emphasize the continued progression of intoxication.
going down, going down slow
Repeating the previous line to emphasize the continued progression of intoxication.
going down, going down slow
Repeating the previous line to emphasize the continued progression of intoxication.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: THOMAS ALAN WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Fifciu1244
When you walk into the bar and this song starts you know what's going on 😎🤙🤙
Thunderback
I am not gonna talk about it though.
Eva Earthling
Yeah it means there is a fight club ;)
Brandon Christian
First rule . Don't talk about it
The White Falcon
Second rule is you do not talk about it
Dave K
Tom Waits can get more great lyrics into ONE song than most artists can put in a whole album. He's an amazing talent.
stapleremover
He's one of the few musicians who comes close to Warren Zevon in that respect.
Mitchell Evans
For me personally, it's Waits and Nick Cave. Two very different lyrical/storytelling styles. But, to me, equally gifted at giving you surprising lyrics that tell great stories and also work perfectly musically.
Moohead Radio
His wife writes the lyrics
Sir Banjo Rochambeaux
put a helmet on that Man... he must be protected at aall costs.