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 Long I'll See Ya
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And nobody knows what's going on
But I've got those
So long I'll see you cause my Buick's outside waiting blues
Well one for the money, two for the show
Three to get ready, Tom's gotta go
He's got them
Well bye-bye-bye, well bye-bye-bye
Sing bye-bye Shooby-do-bye-bye
Gotta skeet-skat outta here, skeet-skat outta here
And mamas in the kitchen, daddies on the phone
And nobody knows what's going on
But I've got those
So long I'll see you cause my Buick's outside waiting blues
Well Tommy's gotta skeet-skat, skeet-skat outta here
Skeet-skat right outta here
And one for the money, two for the show
Three to get ready, I gotta go
'Cause I've got them
So long I'll see you cause my Buick's outside waiting blues
And skeet-skat outta here, gonna skeet-skat outta here,
Gonna skeet-skatJoutta here, gonna skeet-skat outta here
Got so long I'll see you cause my Buick's outside waiting blues
Gonna skeet-skat outta here, gonna skeet-skat outta here,
Gonna skeet-skatJoutta here, gonna skeet-skat outta here
I got solongI'llseeyoucausemyBuick'soutsidewaitingblues
The lyrics of Tom Waits's song So Long I'll See Ya in 2-3 suggest a sense of restlessness and urgency. The first lines paint a scene of chaos and confusion, contrasting with the singer's desire to leave. The phrase "So long I'll see you" implies a temporary parting, but the singer seems fixated on leaving as soon as possible, due to the waiting Buick outside. The repetition of the phrase "skeet-skat outta here" reinforces this sense of urgency and the desire to leave quickly.
The song's structure, with its simple rockabilly chords and call-and-response refrain, also serves to reinforce this sense of restlessness. The use of a simple blues progression and repetition of the chorus also creates a hypnotic effect, driving home the sense of urgency that pervades the song. The upbeat tempo also suggests that the singer is trying to outrun something, or leave something behind. Whether that something is a problem, a relationship, or simply the monotony of everyday life, the singer's desire to escape is palpable.
Line by Line Meaning
Mamas in the kitchen, Daddies on the phone
The parents are busy with their own tasks and are not aware of what is happening around them.
And nobody knows what's going on
There is a sense of confusion and chaos in the air, and no one is sure of what is going on.
But I've got those So long I'll see you cause my Buick's outside waiting blues
The singer is ready to leave and move on to his next destination, as indicated by the presence of his car outside. He is feeling a bit sad about leaving, but knows it's time to go.
Well one for the money, two for the show Three to get ready, Tom's gotta go He's got them So long I'll see you cause my Buick's outside waiting blues
The artist is counting down and preparing to leave, even though he is a bit sad to go. Once again, the presence of his car outside is a reminder that it's time to move on.
Well bye-bye-bye, well bye-bye-bye Sing bye-bye Shooby-do-bye-bye Gotta skeet-skat outta here, skeet-skat outta here
The artist is saying goodbye and leaving, while also making light of the situation with a catchy phrase and a dance move called 'skeet-skat.'
And mamas in the kitchen, daddies on the phone And nobody knows what's going on But I've got those So long I'll see you cause my Buick's outside waiting blues
Once again, the singer highlights the disconnection and confusion in the room, while reminding himself that it's time to leave and move on.
Well Tommy's gotta skeet-skat, skeet-skat outta here Skeet-skat right outta here And one for the money, two for the show Three to get ready, I gotta go 'Cause I've got them So long I'll see you cause my Buick's outside waiting blues
The singer is reiterating that it's time to leave and move on, and even gives himself a pep talk. The repetition of the countdown, along with the mention of his car, emphasizes the singer's urgency to leave.
And skeet-skat outta here, gonna skeet-skat outta here, Gonna skeet-skatJoutta here, gonna skeet-skat outta here Got so long I'll see you cause my Buick's outside waiting blues Gonna skeet-skat outta here, gonna skeet-skat outta here, Gonna skeet-skatJoutta here, gonna skeet-skat outta here I got solongI'llseeyoucausemyBuick'soutsidewaitingblues
The artist is really driving the point home that it's time to leave and he's ready to go, repeating the phrase 'skeet-skat outta here' multiple times. He acknowledges that he's feeling a bit sad to leave, but knows it's the right thing to do.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: TOM WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind