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."
That Feel
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's that feel
Your pants, your shirt, your shoes
But not that feel
Throw it out in the rain, you can whip it like a dog
You can chop it down like an old dead tree
You can always see it
When you're coming into town
But there's one thing you can't lose
And it's that feel
You can pawn your watch and chain
But not that feel
Always comes and finds you, it will always hear you cry
I cross my wooden leg and I swear on my glass eye
It will never leave you high and dry
Never leave you loose
It's harder to get rid of than tattoos
But there's one thing you can't lose, it's that feel
But there's one thing you can't lose, it's that feel
You can throw it off a bridge, you can lose it in the fire
You can leave it at the altar, it will make you out a liar
Fall down in the street, you can leave it in the lurch
Well, you say that it's gospel but I know that it's only church
And there's one thing you can't lose
And it's that feel
It's that feel
You can't lose, and it's that feel, oh yeah
One thing you can't lose, and it's that feel
You can't lose, and it's that feel
The song "That Feel" by Tom Waits is a reflection on the intangible things in life that one can't lose. The lyrics describe a feeling that cannot be thrown away or lost, no matter how hard one tries. The opening lines emphasize this idea, stating that there are many things that can be lost, such as clothes or possessions, but not that feel. The lyrics suggest that this feeling is something that is always present and cannot be gotten rid of easily. It can be hidden, thrown away or ignored, but it will still persist.
The lyrics convey the message that this feeling is something that cannot be acquired by material possessions, money or power. It is something that comes from within and can only be felt. The line "it will never leave you high and dry, never leave you loose" illustrates this idea, suggesting that this feeling is a constant companion that will always be with you, no matter what.
Overall, the song "That Feel" is a reflection on the concept of intangible things that we can't lose. It is a reminder that there are things in life that are more important than material possessions or fame.
Line by Line Meaning
Well there's one thing you can't lose
It's that feel
There's a feeling that you can't lose no matter what
Your pants, your shirt, your shoes
But not that feel
You might lose your clothes, but not that feeling
Throw it out in the rain, you can whip it like a dog
You can chop it down like an old dead tree
You can always see it
When you're coming into town
Once you hang it on the wall you can never take it down
That feeling is resilient and visible, even when everything else is destroyed; once you've experienced it, you can never forget it
You can pawn your watch and chain
But not that feel
You might sell your belongings, but not that feeling
Always comes and finds you, it will always hear you cry
I cross my wooden leg and I swear on my glass eye
It will never leave you high and dry
Never leave you loose
It's harder to get rid of than tattoos
That feeling is always with you, even when you're at your lowest, and it's stronger than any physical attachment you might have, like a tattoo
You can throw it off a bridge, you can lose it in the fire
You can leave it at the altar, it will make you out a liar
Fall down in the street, you can leave it in the lurch
Well, you say that it's gospel but I know that it's only church
You can try to get rid of that feeling, but it'll still come back and haunt you, even if you've made promises and tried to leave it behind
And there's one thing you can't lose
And it's that feel
It's that feel
You can't lose, and it's that feel, oh yeah
One thing you can't lose, and it's that feel
You can't lose, and it's that feel
In case you forgot, that feeling is something you can never lose or forget. It's always there, no matter what
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: THOMAS ALAN WAITS, KEITH RICHARDS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tyrondardizian6711
Well, there's one thing you can't lose
It's that feel
Your pants, your shirt, your shoes
But not that feel
You can throw it out in the rain
You can whip it like a dog
You can chop it down like an old dead tree
You can always see it
When you're coming into town
Once you hang it on the wall
You can never take it down
But there's one thing you can't lose
And it's that feel
You can pawn your watch and chain
But not that feel
It always comes and finds you
It will always hear you cry
I cross my wooden leg
And I swear on my glass eye
It will never leave you high and dry
Never leave you loose
It's harder to get rid of than tattoos
But there's one thing you can't do
Is lose that feel
You can throw it off a bridge
You can lose it in a fire
You can leave it at the altar
But it will make you out a liar
You can fall down in the street
You can leave it in the lurch
Well you say that it's gospel
But I know that it's only church
And there's one thing you can't lose
And it's that feel
It's that feel
@silversnail1413
A song that can bring tears to any man's eyes. When you've lived long enough to know it really hits you.
@boneytony5041
No pants no shirt no shoes will hit ya right in the feels
@shaneelder2183
Such a classic song: perfect lyrics and tone, instrumentation, arrangement, timbre, feel, and pocket. Form and content are superbly married
@Nettacki
That feel when you look for a meme but end up discovering one of the greatest songs ever made
@pidza_hub7532
what meme what
@_DiJiT
@@pidza_hub7532 that feel when you don't know the meme😔
@pidza_hub7532
@Daniel Tolbert thanks daniel this is super helpful and exactly what i wanted to hear
@axelgasper3803
This handmade music shows me 100 percent, that there's more than producing for money to earn.... that is deep from the heart of 2 good old friends!
@tyrondardizian6711
Well, there's one thing you can't lose
It's that feel
Your pants, your shirt, your shoes
But not that feel
You can throw it out in the rain
You can whip it like a dog
You can chop it down like an old dead tree
You can always see it
When you're coming into town
Once you hang it on the wall
You can never take it down
But there's one thing you can't lose
And it's that feel
You can pawn your watch and chain
But not that feel
It always comes and finds you
It will always hear you cry
I cross my wooden leg
And I swear on my glass eye
It will never leave you high and dry
Never leave you loose
It's harder to get rid of than tattoos
But there's one thing you can't do
Is lose that feel
You can throw it off a bridge
You can lose it in a fire
You can leave it at the altar
But it will make you out a liar
You can fall down in the street
You can leave it in the lurch
Well you say that it's gospel
But I know that it's only church
And there's one thing you can't lose
And it's that feel
It's that feel
@morbidmorag
That moment when Keith comes in! My partner says it sounds like two old drunks falling out of a pub. THAT'S WHY IT'S SO GREAT! They're playing this at my funeral.