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 Pontiac
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then the u-joints went out on that and the bushings and then your mother wanted to trade it in on the Tornado, so we got the Tornado
God, I hated the color of that son of a bitch
And the dog destroyed the upholstery on the Ford
Boy, that was long before you were born
We called it the Yellowbird, two-door, three on the tree
Tight little mother
Threw a rod, sold it to Jacobs for a hundred dollar
Now the Special eh, four-holer, you've never seen body panels lining up like that
Overhead cam, dual exhaust
You know I had, let's see I had, four Buicks, loved them all
Now your Uncle Emmet, well he drives a Thunderbird, it used to belong to your Aunt Evelyn
Now, she ruined it, drove it to Indiana with no gear oil.
That was the end of that!
Sold that Cadillac to your mom
Your mom loved that Caddy
Independent rear suspension,
Landau top, good tires
Gas hog.
I swear it had the power to repair itself
I love the old, Dan Steele used to give 'em to me at a discount
Showroom models and that
And then there was the Pontiac and
God, I loved that Pontiac
Well, it was kind of an ox-blood
It just kinda handled so beautifully
Yeah, I miss that car. Well, it was a long time ago, a long time ago
In Tom Waits's "The Pontiac," the singer reminisces about the different cars he has owned and their familiar stories. He remembers the Fairlane, once sturdy but now decayed, and the Tornado, a car he hated for its color. These cars had an established history with his family, each holding its unique memories. He talks about the Yellowbird, "a tight little mother" he once owned, and the Special, which had four holes and an overhead cam with dual exhaust. The intricate and precise structure of the body panels of the Special was something he has never seen before. The singer also speaks about the cars that were once owned by his relatives, such as his Uncle Emmet's Thunderbird, which his Aunt Evelyn had ruined with a reckless drive to Indiana. The nostalgia around these cars is evident, as it brings the singer back to a time before the birth of his child.
One car that stands out among the rest is the Pontiac. The singer loved the Pontiac because of its smooth handling, the color, and its overall beauty. The deep maroon, or "ox-blood," color was distinct and memorable. The Pontiac holds a special place in his memory, and the recounting of the story shows the attachment the singer had to the car. The song's themes are memories, nostalgia, and the emotional connection that people form with the inanimate objects that mark significant moments in their lives.
Overall, the song is about how cars symbolize a time, a place, a feeling, and a journey. The different cars and their stories represent the people, places, and activities the singer experienced. Tom Waits's "The Pontiac" is a reminder of how memories are held within physical things, and they remain as tangible reminders of the past.
Line by Line Meaning
Well let's see, we had the eh, we had the Fairlane
Let me tell you a story about the cars we used to have, starting with the Ford Fairlane.
Then the u-joints went out on that and the bushings and then your mother wanted to trade it in on the Tornado, so we got the Tornado
Eventually, we had to get rid of the Fairlane because it needed too many repairs. Your mother chose the Tornado instead.
God, I hated the color of that son of a bitch
I really didn't like the color of the Tornado.
And the dog destroyed the upholstery on the Ford
The dog ruined the seats in the Fairlane.
Boy, that was long before you were born
All of this happened before you were born.
We called it the Yellowbird, two-door, three on the tree
We had a car called the Yellowbird that had a two-door body and a three-speed manual transmission.
Tight little mother
It was a small car and handled tightly.
Threw a rod, sold it to Jacobs for a hundred dollar
Unfortunately, the Yellowbird's engine was ruined and we had to sell it to someone named Jacobs for a hundred bucks.
Now the Special eh, four-holer, you've never seen body panels lining up like that
We replaced the Yellowbird with a Buick Special that had four cylinders and incredibly well-aligned body panels.
Overhead cam, dual exhaust
The Special had an advanced engine with a dual exhaust and overhead camshafts.
You know I had, let's see I had, four Buicks, loved them all
I had a few Buicks after the Special and I really liked them all.
Now your Uncle Emmet, well he drives a Thunderbird, it used to belong to your Aunt Evelyn
Your Uncle Emmet has a Thunderbird that was previously owned by your Aunt Evelyn.
Now, she ruined it, drove it to Indiana with no gear oil.
Unfortunately, your Aunt Evelyn damaged the Thunderbird by driving it to Indiana without any gear oil.
That was the end of that!
After that, the Thunderbird was no good.
Sold that Cadillac to your mom
We sold a Cadillac to your mother at some point.
Your mom loved that Caddy
Your mother really loved that Cadillac.
Independent rear suspension,
One of the features of the Cadillac was an independent rear suspension system.
Landau top, good tires
The Cadillac also had a nice landau-style roof and good tires.
Gas hog.
Unfortunately, the Cadillac was not very fuel-efficient.
I swear it had the power to repair itself
Sometimes it seemed like the Cadillac could repair itself with how powerful it was.
I love the old, Dan Steele used to give 'em to me at a discount
I really liked the old cars that I got from Dan Steele at a discounted price.
Showroom models and that
Most of the cars Dan Steele gave me were previously used as showroom models.
And then there was the Pontiac and
But my favorite car was definitely the Pontiac.
God, I loved that Pontiac
I really loved my Pontiac.
Well, it was kind of an ox-blood
The color of the Pontiac was kind of a maroon ox-blood color.
It just kinda handled so beautifully
The Pontiac handled really well, I loved driving it.
Yeah, I miss that car.
I really miss my Pontiac, even though it was a long time ago.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KATHLEEN BRENNAN, THOMAS ALAN WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
james brown
God i love this! I mean who hasn't heard a speech like this from the older generation at one time or another
Maria Ortega
"Yeah, I miss that car. That was a long time ago..."
This is one conversation I don't mind having with my Dad over & over again.
Jason Clarkston
THAT WAS THE END OF THAT!
eddie cabot
This is sped up. Not the same