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 Take New York
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll get a shine
I'll ride that dream to the end of the line
I'm gonna be going places
I'll take a ride
Take me to the Riverside
I wanna take you to New York
I'm on the Garbos
I'm drinking Manhattans
I'll take a splash on the big town
That's how I will arrive
Have you got two tens for a five?
You've got to roll out the carpet
Strike up the band
Break out the best champagne when I land
You've got to beat the parade drum
Hit all the bars
I want the moon and stars
I'm gonna take you, New York
I'll make it happen
I'm on the Garbos
I'm drinking Mahattans
And I know someday they're going to name a street after me
Right next door to old Franklin D
I'm going to take you, big town
Come on, new york
Come on, move over, big town
I'll take New York
Come on, big town
Come on, get happy
New York
Come on
In Tom Waits's song "I'll Take New York," the lyrics are an exploration of the desire to make it big in the city that never sleeps. The singer expresses a clear longing for success and recognition, as he describes his plans to "make it happen" by taking a ride to New York and living it up in the big town. He is confident and assertive in his declarations, as he proclaims that he will "roll out the carpet" and "break out the best champagne" upon his arrival. The lyrics are a mix of playful and ambitious, reflecting the excitement and energy of the city that he longs to be a part of.
The singer's desire for success and fame is reflected in the references to iconic figures like Garbo and Franklin D. Roosevelt. He drinks Manhattans, a cocktail associated with the glamour and sophistication of Manhattan, and imagines a day when a street will be named after him in the city. The lyrics convey a sense of determination and optimism, as the singer believes that he has what it takes to make it in the city that never sleeps.
The song can also be interpreted as a celebration of New York and its distinctive culture. The singer's desire to experience the city's nightlife, hit all the bars, and see the moon and stars suggests a fascination with the city's legendary energy and vitality. The repetition of the phrase "I'll take New York" throughout the song becomes a kind of refrain, reinforcing the idea that the singer is driven by an unyielding desire to conquer the city and make it his own.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll tip the newsboy
I will be generous with my money
I'll get a shine
I will have my shoes polished
I'll ride that dream to the end of the line
I will pursue my goals and aspirations until the very end
I'm gonna be going places
I am destined for greatness and success
I'll take a ride
I will go on an adventure
Take me to the Riverside
Take me to the heart of the city
I wanna take you to New York
I want to show you the wonders of the city
I'll make it happen
I will succeed no matter what
I'm on the Garbos
I am on top of my game
I'm drinking Manhattans
I am celebrating in style
I'll take a splash on the big town
I will make a big entrance in the city
That's how I will arrive
I will make a memorable entrance
Have you got two tens for a five?
Can you lend me some money?
You've got to roll out the carpet
I deserve to be treated like royalty
Strike up the band
Celebrate my arrival with music
Break out the best champagne when I land
I deserve the best of everything
You've got to beat the parade drum
Celebrate my arrival in a big way
Hit all the bars
I want to experience everything the city has to offer
I want the moon and stars
I want it all
I'm gonna take you, New York
I will show you the best of the city
And I know someday they're going to name a street after me
I will become a legend
Right next door to old Franklin D
I will be remembered alongside great leaders
I'm going to take you, big town
I will show you everything the city has to offer
Come on, new york
Let's go, the city is waiting for us
Come on, move over, big town
Make way for me, I am coming through
I'll take New York
I will conquer the city
Come on, big town
The city is calling my name
Come on, get happy
Let's celebrate and be happy in the city
New York
The city of dreams and endless possibilities
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: THOMAS A. WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Brandon Nashadka
A true american artists. What a great writer
Johnny Shollaj
Legend. Immortal artist!
Mipsung Vuclam
I love a caboose, and, although I no longer drink, I love Manhattans because of this song! I always picture Tom hanging halfway out the window of that caboose flailing around with that drink in his hand and singing like the madman that he is!
John Smith
There's a dark side of Americana and Tom Waits is no. 1 in the top ten, followed closely by David Lynch, Jim Jarmsuch, Martin Scorsese's After Hours - hell even some of the scenes in As Good as it Gets.
jjdecani
Thank god this is super-safe music and not off-kilter and disturbing at all.
Marko Maras
Frank Sinatra falling apart in a fake world from a Dickian nightmare.
Caleb M
Send people this song when they say Tom can't sing.
Alison
reminds me of Tony Clifton (I mean that in the best sense possible)