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."
Gold & Blue
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the rusty nails
Where the violets grow
Say goodbye to the railroad
And the mad dogs of summer
And everything that I know
What some men will do here for diamonds
Wounded but they just keep on climbin'
Sleep by the side of the road
There's a hole in the ladder
A fence we can climb
Mad as a hatter
You're thin as a dime
Go out to the meadow
The hills are agreen
Sing me a rainbow
Steal me a dream
Small-time Napoleons
Shattered his knees
But he stays in the saddle for Rose
And all his disciples
They shave in the gutter
And gather what's left of his clothers
What some men will do here for diamonds
What some men will do here for gold
Wounded but they just keep on climbin'
They sleep by the side of the road
The opening lines of "Gold & Blue" by Tom Waits paint an image of desolation and decay. The broken glass and rusty nails are a symbol of the rough, difficult world that the singer finds himself in. The violets growing in this harsh environment offer a sense of hope and possibility, however the goodbye to the railroad and the mad dogs of summer hint at a sense of loss and leaving behind the familiar. The singer observes the lengths some men will go to achieve their dreams of riches, risking their lives for diamonds and gold, and yet despite the wounds and struggles they face, they keep climbing, sleeping by the side of the road to keep going.
The latter half of the lyrics feature the singer speaking more directly to someone or something, perhaps an unnamed lover or simply the world around him. The hole in the ladder and the fence to be climbed offer a metaphorical image of overcoming obstacles, while the reference to "mad as a hatter" suggests a sense of madness or madness helping one cope. The request to "sing me a rainbow" and "steal me a dream" offer a more poignant, vulnerable plea for hope and inspiration. The final lines mention "Small-time Napoleons" and "Rose" suggest perhaps the story of a small-time gangster, clinging to power despite adversity, while his followers suffer. Overall, the lyrics of "Gold & Blue" offer a sense of struggle, survival, and a determination to keep going despite the challenges and losses.
Line by Line Meaning
The broken glass
The shattered pieces of glass
And the rusty nails
And the corroded metal fasteners
Where the violets grow
Where the purple flowers flourish
Say goodbye to the railroad
Departing from the train tracks
And the mad dogs of summer
And the rabid canines of the hot season
And everything that I know
And all that I am familiar with
What some men will do here for diamonds
The extreme measures some people pursue for precious stones
What some men will do here for gold
The extreme measures some people pursue for wealth
Wounded but they just keep on climbin'
They may be injured but they persistently continue climbing
Sleep by the side of the road
Resting on the side of the path
There's a hole in the ladder
A gap in the steps for ascent
A fence we can climb
A barrier that may be surmountable
Mad as a hatter
Crazy or irrational
You're thin as a dime
You are slender like a small coin
Go out to the meadow
Head to the grassy field
The hills are a-green
The terrain is covered with verdant growth
Sing me a rainbow
Sing a colorful melody
Steal me a dream
Take possession of someone's aspiration
Small-time Napoleons
Insignificant dictators
Shattered his knees
Broke his legs
But he stays in the saddle for Rose
Nevertheless he remains mounted on his horse for Rose
And all his disciples
And all his followers
They shave in the gutter
They remove their hair in the drainage ditch
And gather what's left of his clothes
And collect the remaining garments
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: THOMAS ALAN WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Islaiane Maria
Portuguese translation:
Tradução em português:
Picture In A Frame
Imagem em um quadro
Sun come up it was blue and gold
sol nascer era azul e ouro
Sun come up it was blue and gold
sol nascer era azul e ouro
Sun come up it was blue and gold
sol nascer era azul e ouro
Ever since I put your picture
Desde que eu colocar sua foto
In a frame.
Em um quadro
I come calling in my Sunday best
eu venho chamando de meu melhor domingo
I come calling in my Sunday best
eu venho chamando de meu melhor domingo
I come calling in my Sunday best
eu venho chamando de meu melhor domingo
Every since I put your picture
Cada desde Coloquei sua foto
In a frame
Em um quadro
I'm gonna love you
eu vou te amar
Till the wheels come off
Até as rodas se soltar
Oh yea
Ah sim
I love you baby and I always will
Eu amo você baby e eu sempre amarei
I love you baby and I always will
Eu amo você baby e eu sempre amarei
I love you baby and I always will
Eu amo você baby e eu sempre amarei
Ever since I put your picture
Desde que eu colocar sua foto
In a frame
Em um quadro
Cuddly Cactus
I give this song to the one I love XF -
Sun come up it was blue and gold
ever since I put your picture
in a frame
I'm gonna love you
till the wheels come off
oh yea
I love you baby and I always will
<3 AllWays & Forever CC <3
ChesapeakeFan
What a sad and heartfelt song...seems like he was playing this in the back corner of a coffee shop, just playing to himself. And a few of us were lucky enough to have stopped in and heard it.
Adan Messiah
pro trick: you can watch movies on flixzone. I've been using it for watching loads of movies these days.
Kingston Kelvin
@Adan Messiah Definitely, been watching on Flixzone} for months myself :)
Duncan Julio
@Adan Messiah Definitely, I have been watching on flixzone} for months myself =)
Filmflicker Cinema
Been a fan of Waits since I stumbled upon Bottom of the World by accident, and been fumbling through his whole discography for two years. He is hands down my favourite musician of all time and this may be one of my favourites of his. So painfully simple yet expresses feelings far beyond any overwritten lyric.
Madison H
Every song of his makes you feel something totally different. It amazes me when I show his music to someone & they turn their nose up & laugh. I dont understand how someone cant love his music because every line he sings has so much heart in it.
E.V. Hodge
2 years. LOL.
Dellani Oakes
I heard this in Bunheads, and it moved me to tears. In fact, listening to it right now, sobbing. It's a beautiful song.
Andrew Anastasovski
Can't help thinking of someone you love.
Dellani Oakes
@Andrew Anastasovski , exactly.