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."
Pay Me
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Keeping me stoned
I won't run away
They say it's easy to get
Stuck in this town
Just like Joan
You know I gave it all up for the stage
It's nobody's business but mine when I'm low
To hold yourself up is not a crime here you know
At the end of the world
I kick my foot at the lights
I breathe it in all night
There's a light on a canvas tree
Money from home supporting me
They pay me not to come home
I won't eat crow
Ill stay away
And though all roads will not lead you home, my girl
All roads lead to the end of the world
And I sewed a little luck up in the hem of my gown
The only way down from the gallows is to swing
And I'll wear boots instead of high heels
And the next stage that I am on, it will have wheels
In this song, Tom Waits is telling a story of a performer who has given up everything for their art. The performer is being paid to stay away from home and is using that money to support themselves on the road. The line "They say it's easy to get stuck in this town just like Joan" refers to Joan of Arc, who was burned at the stake for her beliefs. Waits is suggesting that performers who stay in one place for too long will suffer the same fate as Joan.
The song has a sense of rebellion and freedom. The performer is not tied down to any one place, and although they are being paid to stay away from home, they are choosing to live this life. The line "To hold yourself up is not a crime here you know" is a reminder that it's okay to be different and to follow your dreams, even if it means being away from your loved ones.
Overall, "Pay Me" is a commentary on the sacrifices that performers make to pursue their passion. The song celebrates the freedom that comes with living a life on the road, but also acknowledges the loneliness that can come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
They pay me not to come home
I'm paid to stay away from my family and my hometown.
Keeping me stoned
They keep me drugged and out of it.
I won't run away
Despite what they do to me, I won't leave this place.
They say it's easy to get
Stuck in this town
Just like Joan
People here get stuck, just like Joan of Arc who couldn't leave her destiny either.
You know I gave it all up for the stage
I gave up everything for the theater.
They fill my cup up in the cage
They give me booze in my confinement.
It's nobody's business but mine when I'm low
No one else should know when I'm feeling down.
To hold yourself up is not a crime here you know
It's ok to be strong and independent, even if they make it hard for you.
At the end of the world
This place feels like the end of the world.
I kick my foot at the lights
I rebel against what they try to impose on me.
I breathe it in all night
I take it in, I don't resist it anymore.
There's a light on a canvas tree
There's hope, but it's just something temporary, like a light on a canvas tree.
Money from home supporting me
Even though I'm away, my family supports me with money.
I won't eat crow
I won't accept injustices or humiliations.
Ill stay away
I'll stay away from my hometown and my family.
And though all roads will not lead you home, my girl
All roads lead to the end of the world
There's no going back home, but everything else leads to this place, which feels like the end of the world.
And I sewed a little luck up in the hem of my gown
I try to keep a bit of hope with me, no matter what.
The only way down from the gallows is to swing
The only way out of this situation is to fight and rebel, even if it's risky.
And I'll wear boots instead of high heels
I'll be strong and grounded, instead of trying to look pretty and dependent.
And the next stage that I am on, it will have wheels
I'll keep moving, I won't stop, and I'll keep my freedom and autonomy.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KATHLEEN BRENNAN, THOMAS ALAN WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
elijahlupe
The way he sings "you know i gave it all up for the stage" is so heartbreaking and real
Lupo Thunder
woooonderfuuul ❤
Eamon
Hope you are getting paid for this Tom.
Derek's Watch and Coin Reviews
As someone who dabs in acting,this song ignites my creative side.Cool song,multi layered tells a story.Makes me feel like wearing a hat similar to Toms then dancing by myself under a street light on a lonely cobbled street in the rain.Dancing for nobody.
Clyde Nolet
Do it. I am goinG to make a video to the ending
Михаил Сергопольцев
Чтоб я домой ни ногой
Бухлом мне платят с лихвой
Мне не сбежать
Джоан яркий пример
Того как застрять
В этих краях
Был ради сцены родной брошен кров
Наполнят мне в клетке бокал до краёв
И коль худо мне то моя лишь беда
В работе на публику нет здесь стыда
На задворках земли
Огни рампы ногами крушу
Ими ночь напролёт я дышу
Залит светом шатёр цирковой
Помогает мне ссудами дом отчий мой
Платят оброк чтобы я
Ни ногой на порог
Я не смирюсь
Но доченька всё же дороги домой не найти
В захолустье земное ведут все пути
Каплю удачи зашила я в свой кринолин
Вертеться – один лишь путь вниз из петли
Шпилькам несносным туфли я предпочту
И блистать на иных мне подмостках на колёсном ходу
Jeff Matuszak
At the end of the world
Wa[brick]LL
Real shit
Clumsy Dad
pay me, but in bitcoin please