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."
I'll Be Gone
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll cut the hearts from pharaohs
I pull the road off of the rise
Tear the memories from my eyes
In the morning I'll be gone
I drink a thousand shipwrecks
Tonight I steal your paychecks
The birds will all fly from my head
And in the morning I'll be gone
Take every dream that's breathing
Find every boot that's leaving
Shoot all the lights in the cafe
And in the morning I'll be gone
I bet a thousand dollars
I have a French companion
I tie myself below the deck
I pull the rope around my neck
In the morning I'll be gone
It takes a life to win her
There is a drum of bourbon
Eight hundred pounds of nitro
His boots are thunder as he plays
There is a stone inside it
Tonight his bones will ride it
I'll need a tent to hide it
And in the morning I'll be gone
And in the morning I'll be gone
And in the morning I'll be gone
And in the morning I'll be gone
And in the morning I'll be gone
And in the morning I'll be gone
The lyrics to Tom Waits's song "I'll Be Gone" are cryptic and surreal, as is often the case with his music. The singer seems to be describing a night of destructive behavior and reckless abandon, punctuated by the repeated assertion that in the morning, they will be gone. The specific actions described are vivid and unsettling - shaving a mountain, cutting hearts from pharaohs, shooting lights in a cafe - and suggest a deep sense of restlessness and dissatisfaction. The imagery of flying birds and pulling ropes around one's neck also implies a desire for escape or release.
Overall, the song seems to be about the search for freedom, whether through physical or emotional means. The singer is willing to engage in extreme behavior in order to break free of whatever is holding them back, and seems to see leaving as the only solution. The repetition of the phrase "in the morning I'll be gone" drives this message home, creating a sense of urgency and inevitability.
Line by Line Meaning
Tonight I'll shave the mountain
Tonight, I will conquer the impossible; I will do what others deem unachievable.
I'll cut the hearts from pharoahs
I will defeat the undefeatable; I will accomplish what others have failed to achieve.
I pull the road off of the rise
I will overcome challenges that seem insurmountable; I will face obstacles head-on and defeat them.
Tear the memories from my eyes
I will leave the past behind and move on; I will forget what has hurt me and focus on the future.
In the morning I'll be gone
I will not look back; I will leave everything behind and start anew.
I drink a thousand shipwrecks
I embrace my inner turmoil and pain; I accept my past and use it to fuel my future.
Tonight I steal your paychecks
I will take what is mine; I will not let anyone stand in the way of what I deserve.
I paint the sheets across my bed
I create my world; I control my destiny and shape it to my liking.
The birds will all fly from my head
I will eliminate all distractions; I will focus only on what is essential for my success.
Take every dream that's breathing
I will take hold of all my ambitions; I will pursue what I want with everything I have.
Find every boot that's leaving
I will not let anyone hold me back; I will break free from anything and anyone that tries to obstruct my path to success.
Shoot all the lights in the cafe
I will distance myself from everything that distracts me from my goals; I will eliminate anything that dims my prospects of success.
I bet a thousand dollars
I am confident in my abilities; I am willing to risk it all to achieve my dreams.
I have a French companion
I have someone who supports my ambitions and helps me achieve my goals.
I tie myself below the deck
I will stay the course; I will weather all storms and overcome any adversity.
I pull the rope around my neck
I will take full responsibility for my fate; I am willing to bear the burden of my choices and decisions.
It takes a life to win her
The rewards of my success are worth the sacrifice and struggle; I will strive to achieve my dreams no matter how long it takes.
There is a drum of bourbon
I will celebrate my victories; I will enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Eight hundred pounds of nitro
I have the power to create explosive results; I will put my full energy into achieving my goals.
His boots are thunder as he plays
I will create a spectacle with my success; I will make an impact on the world through my achievements.
There is a stone inside it
I will face great difficulties and obstacles on my path to success; I will overcome these challenges to achieve my goals.
Tonight his bones will ride it
I am determined to succeed at all costs; I will put everything into achieving my dreams.
I'll need a tent to hide it
I will protect myself from those who would try to slow me down or hold me back from achieving my goals.
And in the morning I'll be gone
I will leave my past and my troubles behind and start a new journey; I will move towards my dreams without fear or hesitation.
And in the morning I'll be gone
I will let go of yesterday's failures and setbacks and focus on the possibilities of tomorrow.
And in the morning I'll be gone
I will rise to meet the day with determination and drive; I will use each day to get closer to my dreams.
And in the morning I'll be gone
I am not afraid of what the future holds; I am ready to embark on my journey and seize all the opportunities that come my way.
And in the morning I'll be gone
I am ready to take on the world; I am fearless and committed to achieving my goals.
And in the morning I'll be gone
I am determined to make a difference; I will work tirelessly to achieve my dreams.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: KATHLEEN BRENNAN, THOMAS ALAN WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@TheTomTerrible
No living singer/songwriter can touch him. Most dead ones can barely caress his mad excellence.
@erictorres8133
I was in piano class back in 2006 an this senior put this song in my ears with headphone changed my life
@ventiproduction8186
One of the best songs in the album!
@christuttle6100
Every time I hear a rooster crow I remember this song
@2carlaribeiro
That has been my theme song ever since I can remeber, and I have excellent memory.
@_loser_on_line_
"Tonight I'll shave the mountain
I'll cut the hearts from pharaohs
I pull the road off of the rise
Tear the memories from my eyes
And in the morning I'll be gone"
Tom has this way of getting in your head. the words just resonate with you at some point in your life.
@b00gi3
No kidding. This one is pertinent as a lady mule in a colombian stag party to my situation today. Thanks for verse uno, the words help.
@EnlighthenedOne123
Feels like the absurd start of the collective consciousness of FRP community, I swear by the Almighty.
@roberthale6572
Tom is God mia
Rain dogs ,wet dogs, smells so sweet
Fragrant memory
@windchimes4227
One of his songs I’d love to hear a live version of.