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."
Had Me a Girl
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I knew she couldn't stay
Had me a girl in San Diego
One day she just had to go
And I had me a girl Tallahassee
Boy what a foxy lassie
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
But I'm feelin blue
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And I had me a girl in Mississippi
Oh she sure was kippy
Had me a girl in England
She done split for the mainland
And I had me a girl in New York
She up and pulled my cork
And my doctor says I'll be alright
But I'm feelin' blue
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
But I'm feelin blue
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
Then I had me a girl in North Dakota
She was just fillin' her quota
Then I had me a girl in Chula Vista
I was in love with her sister
Then I had me a girl in
And my doctor says I'll be alright
But I'm feelin' blue
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
But I'm feelin blue
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
Then I had me a girl in France
Just wanted to get in my pants
had me a girl in Toledo
Boy she sure was neato
Then I had me a girl in North Carolina
She's still on my mind
And my doctor says I'll be alright
But I'm feelin' blue
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
But I'm feelin blue
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
And my doctor says I'll be alright
The lyrics of Tom Waits's song "Had Me a Girl" describe the singer's experiences with women he met and fell in love with while traveling across different cities and countries. The song has a repetitive structure, with each verse starting with the singer mentioning a place where he met a girl and ending with him expressing his feelings of sadness and loneliness despite his doctor's reassurances. The lyrics also hint at the fleeting nature of the singer's relationships with these women, as most of them end up leaving him after a brief period of time.
One interpretation of the song is that it is a reflection on the transience of life and relationships. The singer's experiences with different women in different places suggest a sense of impermanence and fleetingness, as if he is constantly searching for something that he cannot find. The repetition of the doctor's reassurances, juxtaposed with the singer's sadness, highlights the discrepancy between what we are told and what we feel.
Another interpretation of the song is that it is a commentary on the cultural and social differences that the singer encounters in his travels. The different locations where he meets these women suggest a sense of diversity and contrast, as if he is experiencing something new and unfamiliar each time. The mention of the women's personalities and physical attributes also implies a sense of individuality and uniqueness, as if the singer is drawn to their distinctiveness.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I had me a girl in LA
I once dated a girl in Los Angeles
I knew she couldn't stay
I knew that our time together was temporary
Had me a girl in San Diego
I had a girlfriend in San Diego
One day she just had to go
One day she left without warning
And I had me a girl Tallahassee
I was involved with a woman from Tallahassee
Boy what a foxy lassie
She was a very attractive woman
And my doctor says I'll be alright
My doctor assures me that I am physically healthy
But I'm feelin' blue
Despite my physical health, I am emotionally down
And my doctor says I'll be alright
Although I am feeling sad, my physical health is good
And my doctor says I'll be alright
My doctor again emphasizes that I am physically fine
And my doctor says I'll be alright
Health-wise, everything is in order, according to my doctor
But I'm feelin blue
Despite the assurances of my doctor, I am still emotionally down
And my doctor says I'll be alright
My doctor continues to reassure me of my physical health
And my doctor says I'll be alright
My physician once again confirms that I am physically okay
And my doctor says I'll be alright
My doctor wants me to be aware that my physical health is good
And I had me a girl in Mississippi
I used to date a lady from Mississippi
Oh she sure was kippy
She was quite lively
Had me a girl in England
I had a lover from England
She done split for the mainland
She left for the main portion of the UK
And I had me a girl in New York
I had a girlfriend from New York
She up and pulled my cork
She broke up with me abruptly
Then I had me a girl in North Dakota
I also dated someone from North Dakota
She was just fillin' her quota
She wasn't interested in a relationship, she was just dating around
Then I had me a girl in Chula Vista
I was romantically involved with a woman from Chula Vista
I was in love with her sister
However, I was more in love with her sister than with her
Then I had me a girl in France
I dated a woman from France
Just wanted to get in my pants
Unfortunately, she was only interested in a physical relationship
had me a girl in Toledo
I had a girlfriend from Toledo
Boy she sure was neato
She was a great person to be around
Then I had me a girl in North Carolina
Finally, I was involved with someone from North Carolina
She's still on my mind
I still think about her even though we're no longer together
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: TOM WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Charnie June Tanginan
Still listening to this song everytime when i get the chance.
Zane Ridings
I'm heartsore, and mad at myself that I didn't jam this sooner.
Mark McFarland
The folk version of colt 45
Love tom waits
M K
I had me a girl from London, but she broke my heart and left me standing.
Tom Mcfadden
I think I met her once.
p247
The Mad Mick and I had me a girl from Amsterdam - she left me for another man
MissesWaits
..... girl from lake of Constanze... and I´m feeling blue.. LOVE IT!
Γιωργος Καουνας
I had me a girl in Lansing MI but she broke my heart. Happens to the best of us!
Jon Wittenberg
I had one from Montana.... I still have her red bandana!!
Charnie June Tanginan
Doctor says i'll be alright but i'm feeling blue... 👍👍👍