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 World Keeps Turning
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There'll be someone else where you used to be
The world don't care and yet it clings to me
And the moon is gold and silvery
Who knows where the sidewalk ends?
Well, the road will turn and the road will bend
They always say he marks the sparrow's fall
Well, the band has stopped playing but we keep dancing
The world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
On his hand he wore the ring of another
And the world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
We broke the bank and we tore up the place
And we disappeared oh without a trace
Now the sun it falls into the sea
And around the only one for me
I was so green and the dress you wore was yellow
And the world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
The sun is down and the moon is in the meadow
And the world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
Put a hat on your head
Will you paint the whole damned town red with me?
Well, the band has stopped playing but we keep dancing
The world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
On his hand he wore the ring of another
The world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
The world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
The world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
The song "World Keeps Turning" by Tom Waits captures the confusion, disillusionment, and despair of a relationship gone sour in a tumultuous manner. The first verse "On our anniversary, there'll be someone else where you used to be; The world don't care and yet it clings to me; And the moon is gold and silvery," suggests a sense of loss and disappointment at the end of a once-promising relationship that has left the singer adrift and pondering the big questions about life and the universe. The singer is uncertain of where to turn when the relationship ends, and the world is indifferent to his struggles. The moon symbolizes a glimmer of hope that things can be better.
The second verse "Who knows where the sidewalk ends? Well, the road will turn and the road will bend; They always say he marks the sparrow's fall; How can anyone believe it all?" is a commentary on the unpredictability of life and how difficult it can be to find answers to the questions posed by the universe. The line "they always say he marks the sparrow's fall" is a reference to the biblical verse found in Matthew 10:29, which states that "not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it." This is a metaphor for the notion that everything in life happens for a reason, but the singer is rejecting this notion, questioning how anyone could believe in it.
The hedonistic third and fourth verses detail the singer's wild living after the breakup. "We broke the bank and we tore up the place; And we disappeared oh without a trace; Now the sun it falls into the sea; And around the only one for me." The character suggests an attempt to escape from his reality and to have fun despite the heartache he is feeling. The final chorus suggests that despite the troubles and trials of life, the world keeps moving, and we must keep moving with it: "Well, the band has stopped playing, but we keep dancing; The world keeps turning, the world keeps turning; On his hand he wore the ring of another; The world keeps turning, the world keeps turning."
Line by Line Meaning
On our anniversary
On the day that symbolizes our love and commitment
There'll be someone else where you used to be
Another person will occupy the space where you once were
The world don't care and yet it clings to me
The world is indifferent to my struggles, yet I feel trapped by it
And the moon is gold and silvery
The moon is shining brightly and beautifully
Who knows where the sidewalk ends?
No one knows where life's journey will take them
Well, the road will turn and the road will bend
Life's path is unpredictable with many twists and turns
They always say he marks the sparrow's fall
Some believe that even the smallest things in life are significant
How can anyone believe it all?
Some find it hard to believe in the grand scheme of things
Well, the band has stopped playing but we keep dancing
Life goes on even when everything else seems to have stopped
On his hand he wore the ring of another
He was in a committed relationship with someone else
And we disappeared oh without a trace
We left suddenly and without any notice
Now the sun it falls into the sea
The day is coming to an end
And around the only one for me
I am with the person who matters most to me
I was so green and the dress you wore was yellow
I was naive and inexperienced at the time of our relationship
The sun is down and the moon is in the meadow
Night has fallen
Put a hat on your head
Cover your head to protect yourself from the world
Will you paint the whole damned town red with me?
Will you join me in living life to the fullest?
The world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
Life goes on
The world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
The cycles of life are endless
The world keeps turning, the world keeps turning
Life moves forward despite the struggles we face
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: KATHLEEN BRENNAN, THOMAS A. WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@joostkoppenaal5835
its been more than 9 years since Tom released his last album.
I'm waiting and ill keep waiting for the next masterpiece.
@nunyabidnis3815
The intro chords are absolutely wonderful. The whole song is wonderful, but those chords in particular are fascinating to me. So glad I have this album, and grateful it's so readily available on here.
@Kennedy_E13
Have you seen the last word quotes in the case? I don’t know if you copy comes with that but mine did and it’s quite interesting.
@brookedavis975
Er brought me to this song. So well written and so sad at the same time. 😢
@michaeldeanmcdaniel4427
Joost Koppenaal I read somewhere he's retired but like you I keep hoping. May we one days see new tunes from Tom Waits.
@arrascaetadora7560
Ni idea de su vida.
Mejoro la mía sin duda.
Ojalá hayas tenido linda vida.
Gracias Tom.
@arrascaetadora7560
Para mí Tom una gente amiga.
@saltyheart
Amor Fati…🕊️
@yomisma3224
Indescriptible
@animalenotturno40
Pollock