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."
The Ocean
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The ocean doesn't want me today
But I'll be back tomorrow to play
And the strangles will take me
Down deep in their brine
The mischievous brain jewels
Down into the endless blue wine
I'll open my head and let out all of my time
And to stay and to stay
But the ocean doesn't want me today
I'll go in up to here
It can't possibly hurt
All they will find is my beer and my shirt
A rip tide is ragin'
And the life guard's away
But the ocean doesn't want me today
But the ocean doesn't want me today
The ocean doesn't want me today
Tom Waits's song The Ocean has a dark and somewhat morbidly humorous tone to it that is uniquely his. The song appears to be exploring the theme of suicide or drowning in the ocean. The lyrics suggest that the singer has tried to drown himself before and is contemplating doing so again. He appears to be taunting the ocean, as if it has rejected him before, but he will be back to play again tomorrow. The mischievous “brain jewels” are perhaps a metaphor for his thoughts, which he is willing to let go of as he sinks deep into the “endless blue wine” of the ocean.
When the singer does go under, he seems to want to stay there, but the ocean doesn't want him today. The use of the word “today” implies that there may be a tomorrow in which the ocean will want him. The song ends with a somewhat humorous line about how he will only leave behind his beer and his shirt when he drowns. It's a morbidly humorous ending that is typical of Waits's style.
Overall, The Ocean is a haunting song that explores dark themes with an unusual poetry that is characteristic of Tom Waits. The song's lyrics suggest that the ocean is a powerful force that can either embrace or reject us, and that we are powerless against it. The song suggests a kind of existential resignation to life's often harsh and uncontrollable circumstances.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, the-
Starting the song with a hesitant tone.
The ocean doesn't want me today
The singer feels unwelcome by the ocean today.
But I'll be back tomorrow to play
Despite being rejected today, the singer is willing to come back tomorrow and try again.
And the strangles will take me
The currents of the ocean will drag the artist down.
Down deep in their brine
The artist will be immersed in the ocean's saltwater.
The mischievous brain jewels
The singer's thoughts and ideas are personified as precious gems.
Down into the endless blue wine
The ocean seems like an infinite source of inspiration for the singer.
I'll open my head and let out all of my time
The artist plans to release all of their thoughts and creativity.
I'd love to go drowning
The artist desires to fully immerse themselves in the ocean's depths.
And to stay and to stay
The artist wants to stay submerged in the ocean for an extended period of time.
But the ocean doesn't want me today
Despite the singer's desires, they are still not welcomed by the ocean.
I'll go in up to here
The artist will only enter the ocean up to a certain point because of fear or respect.
It can't possibly hurt
The singer is trying to convince themselves that entering the ocean won't result in any harm.
All they will find is my beer and my shirt
If something goes wrong and the singer doesn't return, they will only leave behind their possessions on the shore.
A rip tide is ragin'
The ocean currents are intense and dangerous.
And the life guard's away
The artist is taking a risk by entering the ocean without the protection of a lifeguard.
But the ocean doesn't want me today
The repeated line reinforces the idea that the artist is being rejected by the ocean.
But the ocean doesn't want me today
Final repetition of the chorus to conclude the song.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: THOMAS ALAN WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tyrondardizian6711
The ocean doesn't want me today
But I'll be back tomorrow to play
And the strangels will take me
Down deep in their brine
The mischievous braingels
Down into the endless blue wine
I'll open my head and let out
All of my time
I'd love to go drowning
And to stay and to stay
But the ocean doesn't want me today
I'll go in up to here
It can't possibly hurt
All they will find is my beer
And my shirt
A rip tide is raging
And the life guard is away
But the ocean doesn't want me today
The ocean doesn't want me today
@tyrondardizian6711
The ocean doesn't want me today
But I'll be back tomorrow to play
And the strangels will take me
Down deep in their brine
The mischievous braingels
Down into the endless blue wine
I'll open my head and let out
All of my time
I'd love to go drowning
And to stay and to stay
But the ocean doesn't want me today
I'll go in up to here
It can't possibly hurt
All they will find is my beer
And my shirt
A rip tide is raging
And the life guard is away
But the ocean doesn't want me today
The ocean doesn't want me today
@ileezamotherofrain4537
I thought I wanted it. It neither wanted nor did not want me.
I myself decided I didn't want it. I did not want it that day. I kept hearing it. It was terrifying. Still pulling myself out.
I don't want that today.
@hightreestess
This is one of those certain Tom Waits tunes that just satisfies a certain mood.
@audreymcadams6568
Underrated as one of his creepiest songs.
@Missjunebugfreak
I really love it. I wish the song was a bit longer.
@MattSofianosGuitar
Not by me. Giving me the creeps since 1993!
@fredrickpotocnik8156
Incredible poetry of our time!!!
@ileezamotherofrain4537
This guy's stuff has dragged me through things. Helped me so much.
@nickanddeb
I played this song for a friend once. He removed and slammed down the headphones. It really shook him up.
@brianrappleye9078
Tom Waits represents all of the things we never talk about because it hurts