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."
New Year
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your mother burst in it was freezing
She said it looks like it's trying to rain
I was lost, I felt sea sick
You convinced me that he'd left
You said keep talking but don't use their names
I scolded your driver and your brother
We are old enough to know how long you've been hooked
And each time you score
Someone gets hauled and handcuffed and booked
It felt like four in the morning
What sounded like fire works
Turned out to be just what it was
The stars looked like diamonds
Then came the sirens
And everyone started to cuss
All the noise was disturbing
And I couldn't find Irving
It was like two stations on at the same time
And then I hid your car keys
And I made black coffee
And I dumped out the rest of the rum
Nick and Socorro broke up
And Candice wouldn't shut up
Fin he recorded the whole thing
Ray he said damn you
And someone broke my camera
And it was New Years
And we all started to sing
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot for the sake of auld lang syne
I was leaving in the morning with Charles for Las Vegas
And I didn't plan to come back
I had only a few things
Two hundred dollars
And my records in a brown paper sack
I ran out on Sheila
Everything's in storage
Calvin's right I should go back to driving truck
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot for the sake of auld lang syne
In Tom Waits's song "New Year's Eve," the singer is recounting a chaotic and eventful night spent with friends. The opening lyrics describe the mother of one of the friends bursting in, announcing that it looks like it's about to rain outside. The singer is lost and feeling seasick, and their friend convinces them that someone has left, but tells them not to use their names in conversation. Later, there is a commotion outside, initially mistaken for fireworks, but turns out to be sirens. Amidst the chaos, someone broke a camera, a couple broke up, and someone recorded the whole thing. The night ends with all of them singing "Auld Lang Syne" and the singer leaving in the morning for Las Vegas, planning not to come back.
Line by Line Meaning
The door was open, I was seething
I was angry and upset when your mother came in.
Your mother burst in it was freezing
Your mother came in suddenly and it was very cold outside.
She said it looks like it's trying to rain
She commented on the weather, suggesting that it might rain.
I was lost, I felt sea sick
I was disoriented and felt nauseous.
You convinced me that he'd left
You made me believe that someone had left.
You said keep talking but don't use their names
You wanted me to continue speaking, but without using specific names.
I scolded your driver and your brother
I chastised your driver and your brother for some reason.
We are old enough to know how long you've been hooked
We are experienced enough to understand how long you've been addicted to something.
And we've all been through the war
We have all experienced difficult times and struggles.
And each time you score
Whenever you succeed at something.
Someone gets hauled and handcuffed and booked
Someone gets arrested and taken to jail.
It felt like four in the morning
It seemed late at night, possibly early in the morning.
What sounded like fire works
Something that sounded like fireworks.
Turned out to be just what it was
It actually was fireworks.
The stars looked like diamonds
The stars looked very beautiful and sparkly.
Then came the sirens
Emergency vehicles started approaching.
And everyone started to cuss
People began to swear and use bad language.
All the noise was disturbing
The loud sounds were upsetting and annoying.
And I couldn't find Irving
I was unable to locate someone named Irving.
It was like two stations on at the same time
It was chaotic and confusing, with multiple things happening simultaneously.
And then I hid your car keys
I took your car keys and hid them from you.
And I made black coffee
I brewed a pot of coffee that was very strong and dark.
And I dumped out the rest of the rum
I got rid of the remaining alcohol.
Nick and Socorro broke up
Two people named Nick and Socorro ended their romantic relationship.
And Candice wouldn't shut up
Someone named Candice kept talking and wouldn't stop.
Fin he recorded the whole thing
Someone named Fin recorded the entire event.
Ray he said damn you
Someone named Ray cursed or blamed someone else.
And someone broke my camera
My camera was damaged or destroyed by someone.
And it was New Years
The night in question was New Year's Eve.
And we all started to sing
Everyone began to sing together.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind
Should we forget about old acquaintances and not think about them anymore?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot for the sake of auld lang syne
Should we forget our old friends and memories just because time has passed?
I was leaving in the morning with Charles for Las Vegas
I was planning to leave town the next morning with someone named Charles and go to Las Vegas.
And I didn't plan to come back
I didn't intend to return to the same place I was leaving.
I had only a few things
I didn't have many possessions with me.
Two hundred dollars
I only had $200.
And my records in a brown paper sack
I had my music records in a nondescript brown paper bag.
I ran out on Sheila
I left Sheila suddenly and without warning.
Everything's in storage
All of my belongings are currently stored somewhere.
Calvin's right I should go back to driving truck
Someone named Calvin gave me advice to return to driving a truck as a job.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KATHLEEN BRENNAN, THOMAS ALAN WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alex Jeffrey
Tom Waits has been there for me when no one else has been. He’ll never read this but damn it I need my internet validation. Have a good new year everyone!!!
Eric Torres
hey ive hit replay 200 times its disgusting and you aint alone
General Grissom
I'll be spending NYE alone this year, so he'll sure as hell be getting me through it. Hope you enjoy the rest of this year, and have a good NY.
Les Evans
Whenever I wanted the house to myself. I'd turn up Tom Waites. Now I wish some of em would just drop in once and awhile. Happy New Year Tom. We've spent so many together.
Anita Humphries
Here's hoping they drop by quite often in 2022
Otto Pärt
Best new year's eve song ever.
Linda Garland
Can't bring in the New Year without this great song. Thanks Tom.
LemonTree9280
It was like two stations on at the same time...gets me each listen
Kenyouth Archibald
Calvin is right I should go back to drivin' trucks 💀😹😹😹
Anna
For me, it's "and each time you score, someone gets hauled in, handcuffed, and booked."