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."
Goodnight Irene
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Irene, goodnight. Irene, goodnight
Goodnight, Irene. Goodnight, Irene.
I'll see you in my dreams.
Last Saturday night I got married.
Me and my wife settled down.
Now, me and my wife are parted.
[Chorus]
Yeah, sometimes I live in the country
And sometimes I live in town.
Yeah, and sometimes I take a great notion
I'm gonna jump in the river and drown.
[Chorus]
Stop ramblin'. Stop that gamblin'.
Stop staying out late at night.
Go home to your wife and family.
Stay there by the fireside, bright.
[Chorus]
Goodnight, Irene. Goodnight, Irene.
I'll see you in my dreams.
The song "Goodnight Irene" by Tom Waits is a classic American folk song that tells the story of a man who has just gotten married but is now separated from his wife. The song starts off with the chorus, which is repeated throughout the song. The chorus is a farewell to Irene, wishing her goodnight and saying that he will see her in his dreams. This is a nostalgic and wistful phrase, indicating the longing the singer has for his wife.
The first verse of the song gives us the backstory of the singer. He got married last Saturday night and settled down with his wife. But now they are parted, and he is going to take a stroll downtown. We can sense that there is a feeling of restlessness and dissatisfaction that has come over him. In the second verse, the singer muses on the different places he's lived, sometimes in the country, sometimes in town. He has a tendency to take great notions, to jump in the river and drown. This is a poetic way of saying that he gets overwhelmed and has dark thoughts.
The last verse of the song is an admonishment from the singer to himself. He tells himself to stop rambling, stop gambling, and stop staying out late at night. He urges himself to go home to his wife and family and stay by the fireside, bright. This is a message of hope and redemption, implying that he is ready to change his ways and return to a more stable and loving life with his wife. The chorus is repeated one last time, a poignant farewell to Irene, with the suggestion that he hopes to reconcile with her and see her in his dreams.
Line by Line Meaning
Irene, goodnight. Irene, goodnight
Goodnight farewell to Irene
Goodnight, Irene. Goodnight, Irene.
Parting ways with Irene
I'll see you in my dreams.
Having memories of Irene in my dreams
Last Saturday night I got married.
I got married last Saturday night
Me and my wife settled down.
My wife and I have started to lead a settled life
Now, me and my wife are parted.
My wife and I are no longer together
Gonna take a little stroll downtown.
I'm planning to take a walk downtown
Yeah, sometimes I live in the country
At times, I reside in the countryside
And sometimes I live in town.
Occasionally, I live in the town
Yeah, and sometimes I take a great notion
Sometimes, I have this strong desire
I'm gonna jump in the river and drown.
To drown myself in the river
Stop ramblin'. Stop that gamblin'.
Stop wandering and stop gambling
Stop staying out late at night.
Stop staying out too late at night
Go home to your wife and family.
Go back to your wife and family
Stay there by the fireside, bright.
Stay at home by the bright fireside
Goodnight, Irene. Goodnight, Irene.
Farewell to Irene
I'll see you in my dreams.
I will remember Irene in my dreams
Contributed by Evan Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Ale Alj
Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Last Saturday night I got married
Me and my wife settled down
Now, me and my wife are parted
I'm gonna take me a little stroll uptown
Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Oh, sometimes I live in the country
Sometimes I live in town
Sometimes I take a great notion
To jump in the river and drown
Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Well, I love Irene, God knows I do
I'll love her till the sea runs dry
If she ever loves another
I'm gonna take morphine and die
Oh, Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Stop your ramblin', stop your gamblin'
Stop staying out late at night
Go home to your wife and your family
Sit down by the firelight (everybody)
Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Oh, goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Oh, Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Oh, goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
schnook11
This was one of my 3 favorite songs when I was 4 years old. I grew up, Tom Waits became my favorite musician, and then he covers this song, that I loved as a child. It makes me so happy. I guess I haven't changed much.
schnook11
@james brown I wish I knew! I know Leadbelly wrote this song; but so many have covered it over the years. I first heard it on the radio my parents were listening to; this would have been in the early 80s. My parents had kids young, so it's possible that it was college radio and therefore an old version, but who knows? I really wish I knew. Your Four Tops story is great; meeting people that way is special. At the end of the day, we're all just working, doing our jobs--famous people included. It's nice to meet people you admire on a truer, more normal level like that--it probably makes for a better experience for both sides.
james brown
So who sang the version you liked as a kid? But I love that story! I grew up loving the four tops, and as a 4 or 5yr old id always ask to hear under the board walk, then years later as a young man I worked at a restaurant next door to a threat when the four tops came to perform I was working so I couldn't go, I was broke up over it, but that the end of the night as I took out the trash to the dumpster I notice 5 guys in suits smoking cigarettes beside the dumpster, IT WAS THEM!! IT WAS THE FOUR TOPS!! lol I dropped the trash and said "your the four tops!" And one of them replied "your way to young to know who we are!" Haha! They were very nice and it was wonderful to meet them lol
Ale Alj
Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Last Saturday night I got married
Me and my wife settled down
Now, me and my wife are parted
I'm gonna take me a little stroll uptown
Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Oh, sometimes I live in the country
Sometimes I live in town
Sometimes I take a great notion
To jump in the river and drown
Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Well, I love Irene, God knows I do
I'll love her till the sea runs dry
If she ever loves another
I'm gonna take morphine and die
Oh, Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Stop your ramblin', stop your gamblin'
Stop staying out late at night
Go home to your wife and your family
Sit down by the firelight (everybody)
Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Oh, goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Oh, Irene, goodnight Irene
Irene, goodnight
Oh, goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll kiss you in my dreams
Leslie Stephan Bosch
did you think we were deaf?
John Burke
There are some truly beautiful songs out there, this is the most beautiful
Trench Man
A song you listen to after a bad bad day with a beer and smoke in one hand.
billydeeuk
In my head, Tom & Irene had an argument in a bar. Irene has stormed out and now Tom and his drunk friends have decided to serenade her outside her bedroom window in an ill-advised romantic gesture
Greg Burrows
@Niyazi Bircan Chinaski is definitely in the bunch
Phantomsbreath
@Niyazi Bircan This is now my headcannon