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."
Pasties And A G-String
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I ain't got a quarter, got a postage stamp
Been five o'clock shadow boxing all around the town,
Talking with the old man, sleeping on the ground
Bazanti bootin al zootin' al hoot and Al Cohn
Sharing this apartment with a telephone pole
And a fish-net stocking, spike-heel shoes,
Strip tease, prick tease, car keys blues
Dreamy and creamy and brunette curls
Chesty Morgan and Watermelon Rose
Raise my rent and take off all your clothes
With trench coats, magazines, a bottle full of rum,
She's so good, make a dead man come
Pasties and a G-string, beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass and a Buffalo squeeze
Wrinkles and Cherry and Twinkie and Pinkie and Fifi live from Gay Paree
Fanfares, rim shots, back stage, who cares, all this hot burlesque for me
(scat)
Cleavage, cleavage, thighs and hips
From the nape of her neck to the lipstick lips
Chopped and channeled and lowered and lewd
And the cheater slicks and baby moons
She's a-hot and ready, creamy and sugared
And the band is awful and so are the tunes
(scat)
Crawling on her belly, and shaking like jelly,
And I'm getting harder than Chinese algebrassieres
And cheers from the (hmm) compendium here
"Hey sweetheart" they're yelling for more
You're squashing out your cigarette butts on the floor
And I like Shelly, and you like Jane
And what was the girl with the snakeskin's name?
And it's an early-bird matinee, come back any day,
Get you a little something that you can't get at home
Get you a little something that you can't get at home
It's pasties and a G-string, beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass and a Buffalo squeeze
Popcorn, front row, higher than a kite, and I'll be back tomorrow night,
And I'll be back tomorrow night
(scat)
The song "Pasties and a G-String" by Tom Waits is an ode to the world of burlesque and the seedy underground scene that existed around it. The lyrics describe a night in a club where the singer is surrounded by all kinds of colorful characters; from old men to dancers, thugs, and prostitutes. He talks about his experiences in this world - from sleeping on the ground to drinking and watching live nude shows. The language used in the song is raw and gritty, much like the world it describes. Waits paints a picture of a world that is both alluring and dangerous, where anything can happen at any moment.
The song is an expression of Waits' fascination with the American underworld and his love of jazz music. It is a perfect example of Waits' signature style, which blends influences from blues, jazz, and other genres to create a unique sound that is both haunting and evocative. "Pasties and a G-String" has become an iconic song, loved by Waits' fans for its raw energy and its evocative lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Smelling like a brewery, looking like a tramp,
I have the smell of alcohol and appear to be unkempt.
I ain't got a quarter, got a postage stamp
I am penniless and only have a stamp.
Been five o'clock shadow boxing all around the town,
I have been wandering aimlessly around the town.
Talking with the old man, sleeping on the ground
I am conversing with an elderly man and sleeping on the floor.
Bazanti bootin al zootin' al hoot and Al Cohn
Nonsensical words meaning nothing.
Sharing this apartment with a telephone pole
I am living in a cramped space with a telephone pole.
And a fish-net stocking, spike-heel shoes,
I am wearing fishnet stockings and high-heeled shoes.
Strip tease, prick tease, car keys blues
I am engaging in provocative behavior and seeking sexual encounters.
And the porno floor show, live nude girls,
I am watching a pornographic floor show featuring live nude women.
Dreamy and creamy and brunette curls
The women in the pornographic show have attractive dark hair.
Chesty Morgan and Watermelon Rose
The women in the show have names such as Chesty Morgan and Watermelon Rose.
Raise my rent and take off all your clothes
I am willing to pay more to see more nudity.
With trench coats, magazines, a bottle full of rum,
I have brought along some items such as magazines and alcohol.
She's so good, make a dead man come
The women in the show are so sexually appealing that they could arouse even a dead man.
Pasties and a G-string, beer and a shot
I am consuming alcohol while watching the show featuring women wearing pasties and G-strings.
Portland through a shot glass and a Buffalo squeeze
I am drinking a shot of something called a Buffalo Squeeze in Portland.
Wrinkles and Cherry and Twinkie and Pinkie and Fifi live from Gay Paree
The show features women with nicknames such as Wrinkles, Cherry, Twinkie, Pinkie, and Fifi, performing live from Paris.
Fanfares, rim shots, back stage, who cares, all this hot burlesque for me
I don't care about what's happening backstage or the noise around me, I'm just enjoying the burlesque show.
(scat)
A nonsense vocalization meant to add to the musical ambiance.
Cleavage, cleavage, thighs and hips
The women in the show have prominent cleavage, curvy thighs, and hips.
From the nape of her neck to the lipstick lips
The women in the show look attractive from their neck to their lips.
Chopped and channeled and lowered and lewd
The women have been intentionally modified to appear more sexually attractive.
And the cheater slicks and baby moons
The women's outfits feature accessories such as cheater slicks and baby moons.
She's a-hot and ready, creamy and sugared
The women in the show are incredibly attractive and sweet.
And the band is awful and so are the tunes
The music being played is bad and not worth paying attention to.
(scat)
A nonsense vocalization meant to add to the musical ambiance.
Crawling on her belly, and shaking like jelly,
One of the women in the show is crawling on her belly and shaking her body.
And I'm getting harder than Chinese algebrassieres
I am becoming sexually aroused by the women in the show.
And cheers from the (hmm) compendium here
The people around me are cheering.
"Hey sweetheart" they're yelling for more
The audience is asking the women to continue their performance.
You're squashing out your cigarette butts on the floor
Cigarette butts are being thrown on the floor.
And I like Shelly, and you like Jane
Different people in the audience have differing opinions on the performers.
And what was the girl with the snakeskin's name?
I am trying to remember the name of one of the performers.
And it's an early-bird matinee, come back any day,
This is an early showing, but the show is available at other times.
Get you a little something that you can't get at home
The show offers something that cannot be experienced at home.
Get you a little something that you can't get at home
The show offers something that cannot be experienced at home.
It's pasties and a G-string, beer and a shot
The show features women wearing pasties and G-strings while I drink beer and take shots.
Portland through a shot glass and a Buffalo squeeze
I am consuming a drink called Buffalo Squeeze in Portland.
Popcorn, front row, higher than a kite, and I'll be back tomorrow night,
I am eating popcorn and sitting in the front row, enjoying myself so much that I plan to return to the show the next night.
And I'll be back tomorrow night
I am planning to return to the show the next night.
(scat)
A nonsense vocalization meant to add to the musical ambiance.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: TOM WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@nancybushey
Smelling like a brewery, looking like a tramp,
I ain't got a quarter, got a postage stamp
Been five o'clock shadow boxing all around the town,
Talking with the old man, sleeping on the ground
Bazanti bootin al zootin' al hoot and Al Cohn
Sharing this apartment with a telephone pole
And a fish-net stocking, spike-heel shoes,
Strip tease, prick tease, car keys blues
And the porno floor show, live nude girls,
Dreamy and creamy and brunette curls
Chesty Morgan and Watermelon Rose
Raise my rent and take off all your clothes
With trench coats, magazines, a bottle full of rum,
She's so good, make a dead man come
Pasties and a G-string, beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass and a Buffalo squeeze
Wrinkles and Cherry and Twinkie and Pinkie and Fifi live from Gay Paree
Fanfares, rim shots, back stage, who cares, all this hot burlesque for me
(scat)
Cleavage, cleavage, thighs and hips
From the nape of her neck to the lipstick lips
Chopped and channeled and lowered and lewd
And the cheater slicks and baby moons
She's a-hot and ready, creamy and sugared
And the band is awful and so are the tunes
(scat)
Crawling on her belly, and shaking like jelly,
And I'm getting harder than Chinese algebrassieres
And cheers from the (hmm) compendium here
"Hey sweetheart" they're yelling for more
You're squashing out your cigarette butts on the floor
And I like Shelly, and you like Jane
And what was the girl with the snakeskin's name?
And it's an early-bird matinee, come back any day,
Get you a little something that you can't get at home
Get you a little something that you can't get at home
It's pasties and a G-string, beer and a shot
Portland through a shot glass and a Buffalo squeeze
Popcorn, front row, higher than a kite, and I'll be back tomorrow night,
And I'll be back tomorrow night
(scat)
@GhettoWerewolf
I was once asked by a friend to introduce someone to Tom Waits with, and I quote, "the most Tom Waits song you know." So, naturally, I played this.
@bea4156
I wish I could favorite this comment 💯💯
@user-cf1vb6op5h
Good choice, though I'd probably have gone with Spare Parts One
@thejerseyj9422
The chores are all done.
A bottle of Scotch and some club soda.
Sitting in my yard listening to an album I haven't heard in forty something years.
My day is made.
@chrisvesy7245
This never gets old!!🤣
@keenanketsdever590
I need Chesty Morgan and Watermelon Rose in my life
@user-cf1vb6op5h
I saw him on the Small Change tour. (Tickets were $2.98)
@penpal222
I adore Tom Waits!
@kevinmcgiffin10
I was turned on to this song by a buddy of mine long long time ago....WOOO WEEE WHAT A HOOT !!😝😝😝😝
@watzrname
I grew up on this album 🌺