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."
So It Goes
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'd sail to the highest perch on your roof
But I ain't no seagull, you know my name
And the wind's blowin' fortune, the wind's blowin' pain
And so it goes, nobody knows
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
If I was a puppy dog in the early dawn
But I ain't no puppydog, you know my name
And the wind blows fortune, the wind blows pain
And so it goes, nobody knows
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
In Tom Waits's song "So It Goes," the singer imagines himself as various animals, wishing he could be closer to the person he longs for. He first imagines himself as a seagull, saying that if he were one, he could fly right to his love's rooftop. However, he knows he's not a seagull and therefore can't reach her. He then imagines himself as a puppy, hoping he could make it to her house and sleep on her lawn. But again, he knows he's not a puppy and can't get there. The repeating line "And so it goes, nobody knows" emphasizes the sense of hopelessness and powerlessness the singer feels.
The lyrics can be interpreted as a commentary on the human condition, and the struggles and limitations we face when trying to connect with each other. The images of animals wishing they could reach their desired destination speak to the idea of wanting something we can't have, or wishing we could be something we're not. The wind blowing both fortune and pain also reflects the unpredictability of life and the way things can change in an instant.
Line by Line Meaning
If I was a seagull high and aloof
If I were as free as a seagull, I would fly to the highest point on your roof
But I ain't no seagull, you know my name
But I am not free, you know who I am
And the wind's blowin' fortune, the wind's blowin' pain
Life can bring both good and bad things
And so it goes, nobody knows
That's just how life is, and there's no easy answer or solution
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
How to live a fulfilling life, how to reach for your dreams
If I was a puppy dog in the early dawn
If I were innocent and carefree, I would make my way to your house and rest on your lawn
And so it goes, nobody knows
Again, life is unpredictable and there's no easy way to navigate it
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
How to find purpose and meaning in life
But I ain't no puppydog, you know my name
But I am not innocent or carefree - I have a past and a reputation
And the wind blows fortune, the wind blows pain
Good and bad things happen to everyone
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
Once again pondering how to live a meaningful life
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: TOM WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Haroupi
If I was a seagull high in a loof
I'd sail to the highest perch on your roof
But I ain't a seagull, you know my name
And the winds blow fortune, the winds blow pain
And so it goes, nobody knows
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
If I was a puppy dog in the early dawn
I'd make it to your house and sleep on your lawn
but I ain't no puppy dog, you know my name
And the winds blow fortune, the winds blow pain
And so it goes, nobody knows
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
Haroupi
If I was a seagull high in a loof
I'd sail to the highest perch on your roof
But I ain't a seagull, you know my name
And the winds blow fortune, the winds blow pain
And so it goes, nobody knows
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
If I was a puppy dog in the early dawn
I'd make it to your house and sleep on your lawn
but I ain't no puppy dog, you know my name
And the winds blow fortune, the winds blow pain
And so it goes, nobody knows
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
Ash
My favorite Tom Waits song, if there is such a thing. This one lives in my body & Soul.
BiggerThanJesus
bruce springsteen wants to be Tom Waits when he grows up
jiulongtang
If I was a seagull high in a loof I'd sail to the highest perch on your roof But I ain't no seagull, you know my name And the winds blowin fortune, the winds blowin pain And so it goes, nobody knows How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky If I was a puppy dog in the early dawn I'd make it to your house and sleep on your lawn but I ain'ty no puppydog, you know my name And the wind blows fortune, the wind blows pain and so it goes, nobody knows How to get to the sky, how to get to the sky
59vlada
Looks like puppy dog knows it... maybe better than seagull :~)
james lubera
a mastepiece! genius!!
iGFXDave
Reminds me of Dink's song, probably was inspired by it right?
jubjub2112
And you have achieved what in your life?
jubjub2112
@07328281 Nebraska . . . that is a perfect album . . . this does have a somewhat similar feel to that album. This is a brilliant song . . . Tom Waits is a genius, no mistake
Matthew Orvis
This came out before Nebraska. But that was my first reaction too.