Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits, in Pomona, California, on December 7, 19… Read Full Bio ↴Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits, in Pomona, California, on December 7, 1949) is a prolific American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor.

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."

Spare Parts
Tom Waits Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Well the dawn cracked hard just like a bull whip
Cause it wasn't takin' no lip from the night before
As it shook out the street, the stew bums showed up
Just like bounced checks, rubbin' their necks
And the sky turned the color of Pepto-Bismol
And the parking lots growled
And my old sports coat full of promissory notes
And a receipt from a late night motel

And the hawk had his whole family out
There in the wind, and he's got a message
For you to beware cause he be kickin' your
A** in, in a cold blooded fashion
Dishin' out more than a good man can bear
I got shoes untied, shirt tail's out, ain't got a
Ghost of a chance with this old romance
Just an apartment for rent down the block
Ivar Theater with live burlesque
And the manager's scowlin', feet on his desk
Boom boom against the curtain
You're still hurtin'
And then push came to shove, shove came to biff
Girls like that just lay you out stiff
Maybe I'll go to Cleveland or
Get me a tattoo or somethin', my brother
In law's there
Skid mark tattoo on the asphalt blue
Was that a Malibu
Liz Taylor and Montgomery Clift
Cumming on to the broads with the
Same ol' riff. Hey baby come up to
My place, we'll listen to some
Smooth music on the stereo, no thank you
Got any Stan Getz records
No I got Smothers Brothers
So I combed back my Detroit
Jack up my pegs, wiped my Stacy Adams
Jacknifed my legs, yea I got designs
On a moving violation
Hey baby, you put me on hold and I'm
Out in the wind and it's getting
Mighty cold...
Colder than a gut shot b***h wolf dog

With 9 sucking pups pullin' a 4 trap
Up a hill in the dead of win

Overall Meaning

In Tom Waits's song "Spare Parts", the lyrics paint a picture of a bleak and harsh city landscape. The dawn has crackled just like a bull whip, denoting the end of a wild night before. Stew bums show up, rubbing their necks just like bounced checks, as the sky turns the color of Pepto-Bismol. The parking lots growled and the singer awakens with shoes untied and shirt tail out. He says he hasn't got a ghost of a chance with this old romance, only an apartment for rent down the block. The manager of the Ivar Theater scowls with feet on his desk, and the singer watches the curtain fold with boom, boom.

Push comes to shove and shove comes to biff in a city where girls like that just lay you out stiff. The singer wonders if he should go to Cleveland or get a tattoo, and muses about his brother in law being there. In the cold wind, he feels the chill of moving violations and feels like he is colder than a gut-shot b***h wolf dog with nine sucking pups. The overall meaning of the song seems to be a commentary on living in a city where opportunities are bleak and even the dawn has an unforgiving quality.

Line by Line Meaning

Well the dawn cracked hard just like a bull whip
The dawn broke with intensity, showing no mercy, like a bull whip cracking

Cause it wasn't takin' no lip from the night before
The dawn was not going to tolerate any lingering bad behavior from the previous night

As it shook out the street, the stew bums showed up
As the sun rose, the homeless people appeared

Just like bounced checks, rubbin' their necks
These homeless people looked just as pitiful as someone with not only an empty bank account but also physical pain in their neck

And the sky turned the color of Pepto-Bismol
The sky turned a shade of light pink, reminiscent of the famous antacid liquid

And the parking lots growled
The parking lots were filled with the sounds of engines revving and impatient drivers

And my old sports coat full of promissory notes
My worn-out jacket is filled with empty promises, written on scraps of paper

And a receipt from a late night motel
I have a receipt from a motel where I recently stayed, likely indicating a rough or impulsive night

And the hawk had his whole family out
A family of hawks was out in the wind, presumably warning of danger

There in the wind, and he's got a message
The hawk has a serious message to deliver due to the conditions of the wind

For you to beware cause he be kickin' your
The hawk is warning to watch out because he will be fiercely fighting

A** in, in a cold blooded fashion
The hawk will be attacking ruthlessly and without mercy

Dishin' out more than a good man can bear
The hawk is dishing out more pain than one can handle

I got shoes untied, shirt tail's out, ain't got a
My appearance is disheveled and lacking, highlighted by my shoes coming untied and my shirt tail hanging out

Ghost of a chance with this old romance
I don't stand a chance in this outdated romantic scenario

Just an apartment for rent down the block
The only hope for a place to stay is a nearby apartment that is available to rent

Ivar Theater with live burlesque
The nearby Ivar Theater offers live burlesque shows

And the manager's scowlin', feet on his desk
The manager is unhappy and lounging with his feet up at his desk

Boom boom against the curtain
The performers are making loud sounds against the curtain

You're still hurtin'
Despite the external noise, there is still internal pain present

And then push came to shove, shove came to biff
A physical altercation started and escalated quickly

Girls like that just lay you out stiff
Women like that can knock you off your feet and leave you paralyzed

Maybe I'll go to Cleveland or
Perhaps I should leave this area and travel to Cleveland

Get me a tattoo or somethin', my brother
I could also consider getting a tattoo, buddy

In law's there
My brother-in-law lives in Cleveland

Skid mark tattoo on the asphalt blue
Someone left a tire skid on blue asphalt, resembling a tattoo

Was that a Malibu
Was that type of car responsible for the skid mark?

Liz Taylor and Montgomery Clift
Liz Taylor and Montgomery Clift are mentioned, perhaps representing an old, glamorous Hollywood lifestyle

Cumming on to the broads with the
The men were coming on to the women, using the same lines as always

Same ol' riff. Hey baby come up to
Their pickup lines were tired and unoriginal, such as asking the women to come home with them

My place, we'll listen to some
The men would invite the women back to their home to play music

Smooth music on the stereo, no thank you
The women declined the invitation

Got any Stan Getz records
The women may have preferred jazz musician Stan Getz over the men's option

No I got Smothers Brothers
The men had a contrasting option of comedy duo the Smothers Brothers

So I combed back my Detroit
I styled my hair in a specific way, similar to Detroit culture

Jack up my pegs, wiped my Stacy Adams
I organized my clothing and made sure my shoes were polished and shining, as I wore a brand called Stacy Adams

Jacknifed my legs, yea I got designs
I struck a pose and showed off my fashionable, unique personal style

On a moving violation
I may be involved in some illegal activity while on the move

Hey baby, you put me on hold and I'm
The singer was put on hold on the phone and now must wait

Out in the wind and it's getting
Meanwhile, outside it's getting

Mighty cold...
Extremely cold

Colder than a gut shot b***h wolf dog
This weather is even colder than being shot in the stomach, like a female wolf-dog

With 9 sucking pups pullin' a 4 trap
The wolf-dog is trekking through difficult territory, with nine young drinking her milk, while dragging a trap made for four animals

Up a hill in the dead of win
This arduous journey is taking place in the midst of winter

Contributed by Julian Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

Jake Boi

6y↑5

well the dawn cracked hard just like a bull whip
cause it wasn't takin' no lip from the night before
as it shook out the street, the stew bums showed up
just like bounced checks, rubbin' their necks
and the sky turned the color of Pepto-Bismol
and the parking lots growled
and my old sports coat full of promissory notes
and a receipt from a late night motel
and the hawk had his whole family out
there in the wind, and he's got a message
for you to beware cause he be kickin' your
ass in, in a cold blooded fashion
dishin' out more than a good man can bear
I got shoes untied, shirt tail's out, ain't got a
ghost of a chance with this old romance
just an apartment for rent down the block
Ivar Theater with live burlesque
and the manager's scowlin', feet on his desk
boom boom against the curtain
you're still hurtin'
and then push came to shove, shove came to biff
girls like that just lay you out stiff
maybe I'll go to Cleveland or
get me a tattoo or somethin', my brother
in law's there
skid mark tattoo on the asphalt blue
was that a Malibu
Liz Taylor and Montgomery Clift
cumming on to the broads with the
same ol' riff. Hey baby come up to
my place, we'll listen to some
smooth music on the stereo, no thank you
got any Stan Getz records
no I got Smothers Brothers
so I combed back my Detroit
jack up my pegs, wiped my Stacy Adams
jacknifed my legs, yea I got designs
on a moving violation
hey baby, you put me on hold and I'm
out in the wind and it's getting
mighty cold...
colder than a gut shot bitch wolf dog
with 9 sucking pups pullin' a 4 trap
up a hill in the dead of win

All comments from YouTube:

Timothy Ross

12y↑8

This song CHANGED MY LIFE.....'nuff said....

Destination DooWop

Absolutely! Was never the same ….

boris blade

12y↑2

tom waits on top form,a great album

amobofone

12y↑8

God I love this song...I always wondered why his sister didn't live in Cleveland too...just his "brother-in-law"!?

Richard McGowan

5y↑1

Exactly

1 More Replies...

Tony O'Mahony

11y↑8

I'm 53 too. Life here in Ireland was a bit grim during my formative years. Things began to improve eventually. Sometime in the mid eighties, I happened upon a pub (bar) in north Kerry. Tom Waits was sitting in the pub drinking beer. He seems to spent a fair bit of time here. Anyway, time to go. I'ts colder than a well digger's ass here.