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."
Lucinda
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I sold opium, fireworks and lead
Now I'm telling my troubles to strangers
When the shadows get long I be dead
Now her hair was as black as a bucket of tar
Her skin as white as a cuttlefish bone
I left Texas to follow Lucinda
I meet her when Charlotte slivers in moonlight
A sly grin and a bow full of stars
I got a kid who captures a firefly
And leaves it over there to die at the shore
As I kick at the clowns at my hanging
As I swing out all over the crowds
I will search every face for Lucinda
And she'll go off with me down the hill
I tought I'd broke loose of Lucinda
Rain returned and so did the wind
I cast this burden on the God's that's within me
And now he'll miss the world and go free
The devil danced inside empty pockets
But she didn't want money or pearls
Boy that wasn't enought for Lucinda
She wasn't that kind of girl
Now I've fallen from grace for Lucinda
Who'd ever tought that Hell would be so cold?
I did well for an old tin can sailor
But she want it the bell in my soul
I spoken to God on the mountain
And I've swam in the irish sea
I ate fire and drank from the Ganges
I've played bell for mercy for me
I tought I'd broke loose of Lucinda
Rain returned and so did the wind
I was standing outside the white house
And there I was afraid to go in
I heard someone pull the trigger
Her breast heaved in the moonlight again
There was a smear of gold in the window
And then I was the jewel of her sin
They call me William the Pleaser
I sold opium, fireworks and lead
Now I'm telling my troubles to strangers
When the shadows get long, I be dead
Now her hair was as black as a bucket of tar
Her skin as white as a cuttlefish bone
I left Texas to follow Lucinda
I know I'll never see heaven or home
No I'll never see heaven or home
No I'll never never see heaven or home
Tom Waits's song Lucinda tells the story of a man named William the Pleaser who sold opium, fireworks, and lead, and follows a woman named Lucinda whom he leaves Texas to be with. The song starts with William talking about his past and how he now tells his troubles to strangers. He sings about how he meets Lucinda when "Charlotte slivers in moonlight" and how her hair was as black as a bucket of tar while her skin was as white as a cuttlefish bone. William follows Lucinda down the hill and searches for her in the crowd during his hanging. William talks about how he thought he had broken loose of Lucinda, but rain and wind return. William also sings about how he's fallen from grace for Lucinda and his experiences with eating fire, drinking from the Ganges, and playing the bell of mercy for himself.
Throughout the song, Waits's storytelling ability is on full display with his descriptive language and vivid imagery. He also touches on themes of betrayal, lost love, and redemption. The song highlights the sacrifices people make in the pursuit of love and the heavy burden it can bear on them. Despite the hardships William faces on his journey, he still holds onto his love for Lucinda and believes that she's worth it all, even if he never gets to go to heaven or home.
Line by Line Meaning
Well they call me William the Pleaser
I am known as William the Pleaser.
I sold opium, fireworks and lead
I sold opium, fireworks, and bullets to earn a living.
Now I'm telling my troubles to strangers
I now tell my problems to people who don't know me.
When the shadows get long I be dead
I expect to die when the day ends.
Now her hair was as black as a bucket of tar
She had very dark hair, like a bucket filled with tar.
Her skin as white as a cuttlefish bone
Her skin was very pale, similar to the bones of a cuttlefish.
I left Texas to follow Lucinda
I traveled to find Lucinda, leaving Texas behind.
Now I'll never see heaven or home
I know I will never see my home or heaven.
I meet her when Charlotte slivers in moonlight
I met her during a moonlit night in Charlotte.
A sly grin and a bow full of stars
She smiled wryly and wore many stars in her hair.
I got a kid who captures a firefly
I have a child who catches fireflies.
And leaves it over there to die at the shore
And leaves the firefly to die at the beach.
As I kick at the clowns at my hanging
As I struggle and fight before being executed.
As I swing out all over the crowds
As I am put to death in front of a large crowd.
I will search every face for Lucinda
I will look for Lucinda in every face I see.
And she'll go off with me down the hill
And she will come away with me down the hill.
I tought I'd broke loose of Lucinda
I thought I was done with Lucinda.
Rain returned and so did the wind
But then the rain and wind returned.
I cast this burden on the God's that's within me
I give this problem to the gods within me.
And now he'll miss the world and go free
And now my spirit will leave my body and be free.
The devil danced inside empty pockets
I didn't have anything to give the devil.
But she didn't want money or pearls
Lucinda didn't care about money or jewelry.
Boy that wasn't enought for Lucinda
But that wasn't enough to impress Lucinda.
Now I've fallen from grace for Lucinda
I abandoned my beliefs for Lucinda.
Who'd ever tought that Hell would be so cold?
I never imagined that Hell would be so harsh.
I did well for an old tin can sailor
I did well for being an old sailor.
But she want it the bell in my soul
But she wanted the essence of my being.
I spoken to God on the mountain
I talked to God on a mountain.
And I've swam in the irish sea
I have swam in the Irish sea.
I ate fire and drank from the Ganges
I consumed fire and drank water from the Ganges River.
I've played bell for mercy for me
I have begged for mercy through playing the bell.
I was standing outside the white house
I was waiting outside the White House.
And there I was afraid to go in
And I was too scared to enter.
I heard someone pull the trigger
I heard the sound of a gun being fired.
Her breast heaved in the moonlight again
I saw her chest move in the moonlight.
There was a smear of gold in the window
I noticed a gold stain on the window.
And then I was the jewel of her sin
Then I became a symbol of her sinful actions.
No I'll never see heaven or home
I am certain I will never go home or to heaven.
No I'll never never see heaven or home
I will never see heaven or home, no matter what.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KATHLEEN BRENNAN, THOMAS ALAN WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
BanonenTurm
so bloody raw sound. love it, music straight from the blue.
jody borland
I just love this song. XO
Melissa Smith
Me too
Drew Gilbert
i dig this tune.
Wadesternator
Well I found another one to add to my playlist
Person Chen
The Bart thing of early 2022 is found Tom Waits on YT and play LUCINDA again and again. Thanks Tom!
wesley rodgers
Excellent! ☺❤👍👍👍☝☝☝☝☝☝☝☝☝
Trip Lucid
This makes me wonder what a cover of Townes Van Zandt would sound like by tom waits
Shruggz Da Str8-Faced Clown
I know that this song isn't about Lucinda Williams, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about her just by mere association anyhow
Brian Stoltz
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥