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."
Jersey Girl
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Down in the street makin' all that noise,
Don't want no whores on eighth avenue,
Cause tonight I'm gonna be with you.
'Cause tonight I'm gonna take that ride,
Across the river to the jersey side,
Take my baby to the carnival,
Sing sha la la la la la sha la la la.
Down the shore everything's alright,
You're with your baby on a Saturday night,
Don't you know that all my dreams come true,
When I'm walkin' down the street with you,
Sing sha la la la la la sha la la la.
You know she thrills me with all her charms,
When I'm wrapped up in my baby's arms,
My little angel gives me everything,
I know someday that she'll wear my ring.
So don't bother me cause I got no time,
I'm on my way to see that girl of mine,
Nothin' else matters in this whole wide world,
When you're in love with a jersey girl,
Sing sha la la la la la la.
And I call your name, I can't sleep at night,
Sha la la la la la la.
In Tom Waits's song "Jersey Girl," the singer expresses his desire to spend a romantic evening with his love interest, away from the noisy street corner and without the presence of prostitutes. He intends to take her across the river to the Jersey side, where they can enjoy the carnival together and ride all the rides. The lyrics exude pure joy and happiness, as the singer imagines spending a perfect evening with his love interest, without anything else in the world mattering. He is enamored with her charm and feels complete when he's wrapped up in her arms. The lyrics suggest that they have a deep connection, and he sees a future with her, predicting that she'll someday wear his ring. As he sings "Sha la la la la la la" repeatedly, the phrase serves as a celebration of his love, as well as an expression of the joy and carefree nature of the moment.
Line by Line Meaning
Got no time for the corner boys,
I don't have time for idle gossipers hanging around on street corners
Down in the street makin' all that noise,
They make a lot of noise and I don't want to be distracted by that today
Don't want no whores on eighth avenue,
I'm not interested in the light women on Eighth Avenue tonight
Cause tonight I'm gonna be with you.
Because I'm excited to spend the night with you
'Cause tonight I'm gonna take that ride,
Because we're going to go for a drive tonight
Across the river to the jersey side,
We're crossing the river to go to New Jersey
Take my baby to the carnival,
We're going to the carnival together
And I'll take you on all the rides,
I'll make sure we enjoy all the rides together
Sing sha la la la la la sha la la la.
Let's sing sha la la la la la sha la la la as we go there
Down the shore everything's alright,
When we get to the shore everything will be wonderful
You're with your baby on a Saturday night,
We'll be together, holding each other on a Saturday night
Don't you know that all my dreams come true,
You make all my dreams come true
When I'm walkin' down the street with you,
Everything feels perfect when we're together
You know she thrills me with all her charms,
I get so excited by all of your wonderful qualities
When I'm wrapped up in my baby's arms,
I feel so comfortable and safe when I'm holding you
My little angel gives me everything,
You give me everything I need
I know someday that she'll wear my ring.
I know that you and I will be together forever
So don't bother me cause I got no time,
Please don't disturb me, I just want to be with my girlfriend
I'm on my way to see that girl of mine,
I'm so excited to see my wonderful girlfriend
Nothin' else matters in this whole wide world,
Nothing else is important when we're together
When you're in love with a jersey girl,
Being in love with a New Jersey girl is the best feeling in the world
Sing sha la la la la la la.
Let's continue singing sha la la la la la sha la la la
And I call your name, I can't sleep at night,
I think about you constantly and have trouble sleeping without you
Sha la la la la la la.
But when we're together, all is right in the world and we can sing sha la la la la la
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: TOM WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Robert Wiesler
One of the best songs ever written
Absolutely fantastic
I have to admit I hear this song now
for the first time by Tom Waits
In 2009 in Vienna Bruce Springsteen
did this beautiful tune by request
I will never forget this
So for me it is a Bruce Springsteen song - sorry
But Tom Waits is a true hero and
one of the greatest songwriters of all time
There is no doubt about that
Fernando Quevedo
Man, this song is a poem to the soul! Can't stop listening.
Horror Tonic
Ol ‘55 is another great song of his that’s been covered numerous times, most famous by the Eagles. I actually like that song slightly better
Giovanni Busi
@Horror Tonic by the Eagles that song doesn't exist
Peter Johnson
This has been one of my favourite songs since 80s. Back in the mid 90s my then girlfriend and I used to park up near the sea in west Wales and listen to this on repeat. That girlfriend is now my wife of 23 years and this is still "our" song. So much so that I recorded my version of it for her birthday 4 years back 💗
Sleeping Dragons Stir
👍🏴😎
Sibel Erim
Wish you and your wife many more years together
Nihilist
Wow, this made my day!
Ray S
Hmm thats old jersey though.
Bus Kontention
@Ray S 🤣Well without the Old there wouldn't be a name for the New. I'm a big fan of this song. Not so much of Jersey girls. From the New, that is.
schnook11
One of my all time favorite songs...the bass, the timbre of his voice, the way he rips his heart out...damn! Such a piece of beauty.