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."
Tom Traubert's Blues
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I got what I paid for now
See ya tomorrow, hey Frank can I borrow
A couple of bucks from you
To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me
I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
And I'm tired of all these soldiers here
And my Stacys are soaking wet
To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me
Now the dogs are barking
And the taxicabs parking
A lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me
You tore my shirt open
And I'm down on my knees tonight
Old Bushmills I staggered
You buried the dagger in
Your silhouette window light
To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me
Now I've lost my St. Christopher
Now that I've kissed her and the
And the one-armed bandit knows
And the maverick Chinaman, and the cold-blooded signs
And the girls down by the strip tease shows go
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me
No, I don't want your sympathy
The fugitives say that the streets aren't for dreaming now
Manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories
They want a piece of the action anyhow
Go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me
And you can ask any sailor
And the keys from the jailer
And the old men in wheelchairs know
That Matilda's the defendant, she killed about a hundred
And she follows wherever you may go
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me
And it's a battered old suitcase
To a hotel someplace
And a wound that will never heal
No prima donna, the perfume is on
An old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey
And goodnight to the street sweepers
The night watchman flame keepers
And goodnight Matilda, too
The lyrics of Tom Waits's song Tom Traubert's Blues describe a man who is "wasted and wounded" and wandering the streets in search of comfort and companionship. He addresses his friend Frank, asking to borrow a few bucks, and then imagines going "waltzing Matilda" with him. The song takes its name from the traditional Australian folk tune "Waltzing Matilda," which tells the story of a swagman (a transient laborer) who steals a sheep and is pursued by the authorities before drowning himself in a billabong (a small lake). In Waits's version, "waltzing Matilda" seems to represent a kind of escape or reverie, a way of finding temporary relief from the hardships of life.
The singer of the song is clearly in a state of distress and disillusionment, feeling trapped and alienated from the world around him. He describes himself as an "innocent victim of a blinded alley" and complains that "no one speaks English, and everything's broken." He longs for connection and understanding, but finds only chaos and confusion. Even his religious symbols fail him: he has lost his St. Christopher medal, which traditionally represents safety and protection for travelers. In the end, he accepts his fate and bids farewell to the "street sweepers" and "night watchman flame keepers" who are the only witnesses to his struggle.
Overall, Tom Traubert's Blues is a poignant and haunting portrait of human vulnerability and isolation. It speaks to the universal longing for meaning and connection, and the difficulty of finding these things in a world that can be harsh and unforgiving.
Line by Line Meaning
Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did
I'm in a bad state, but the moon isn't responsible.
I got what I paid for now
I'm stuck in this situation because of my own actions.
See ya tomorrow, hey Frank can I borrow
I need to borrow some money from Frank.
A couple of bucks from you
I don't need much, just a few dollars.
To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, you'll go waltzing Matilda with me
I long for a better life and want someone to dance with me.
I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
I'm caught in a tough situation that's not entirely my fault.
And I'm tired of all these soldiers here
I'm sick of being around people who are always fighting.
No one speaks English, and everything's broken
I'm in a foreign land where nothing seems familiar, and communication is difficult.
And my Stacys are soaking wet
My shoes are soaked and uncomfortable.
Now the dogs are barking
There's a lot of noise and chaos around me.
And the taxicabs parking
People are busy with their own lives and don't care about my problems.
A lot they can do for me
I'm on my own; there's no one to help me.
I begged you to stab me
I'm so desperate that I asked someone to hurt me.
You tore my shirt open
Someone inflicted physical harm on me.
And I'm down on my knees tonight
I'm in a vulnerable position.
Old Bushmills I staggered
I'm drunk on whiskey.
You buried the dagger in
Someone hurt me deeply.
Your silhouette window light
There's a distant light in my life, but it's not close enough to help me.
Now I've lost my St. Christopher
I don't have a religious symbol that's supposed to protect me.
Now that I've kissed her and the
I fell in love with someone, but something went wrong.
And the one-armed bandit knows
Even a slot machine knows my secrets.
And the maverick Chinaman, and the cold-blooded signs
Even things that seem strange and foreign are aware of my problems.
And the girls down by the strip tease shows go
Even women who work in strip clubs are aware of my problems.
No, I don't want your sympathy
I don't need people to feel sorry for me.
The fugitives say that the streets aren't for dreaming now
Other people think that it's not possible to have a better life.
Manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories
People are always looking for trouble, and others try to profit off of pain.
They want a piece of the action anyhow
People are always trying to take advantage of me.
And you can ask any sailor
Even people who travel the world have stories of my problems.
And the keys from the jailer
Even people who are trapped have insight into my problems.
And the old men in wheelchairs know
Even people who are immobile have something to say about my problems.
That Matilda's the defendant, she killed about a hundred
Matilda is a notorious criminal and has done far worse things than me.
And she follows wherever you may go
My troubles always follow me.
And it's a battered old suitcase
I carry all my problems with me.
To a hotel someplace
I'm looking for a new place where things will be better.
And a wound that will never heal
I'm scarred for life.
No prima donna, the perfume is on
I don't put on airs or pretend to be someone I'm not.
An old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey
I don't have much; everything I own is old and worn out.
And goodnight to the street sweepers
It's time for everyone else to go to sleep.
The night watchman flame keepers
Only a few people remain awake to keep the city running.
And goodnight Matilda, too
Even my problems need a break.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: Tom Waits
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@noabaak
Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did
Got what I paid for now
See ya tomorrow, hey Frank can I borrow
A couple of bucks from you?
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go a-waltzing Mathilda with me
I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
And tired of all these soldiers here
No one speaks English and everything's broken
And my Stacys are soaking wet
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go a-waltzing Mathilda with me
Now the dogs are barking and the taxi cab's parking
A lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me, you tore my shirt open
And I'm down on my knees tonight
Old Bushmill's I staggered, you buried the dagger
Your silhouette window light
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go a-waltzing Mathilda with me
Now I lost my Saint Christopher now that I've kissed her
And the one-armed bandit knows
And the maverick Chinaman and the cold-blooded signs
And the girls down by the strip-tease shows
Go, waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go a-waltzing Mathilda with me
No, I don't want your sympathy
The fugitives say that the streets aren't for dreaming now
Manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories
They want a piece of the action anyhow
Go, waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go a-waltzing Mathilda with me
And you can ask any sailor and the keys from the jailor
And the old men in wheelchairs know
That Mathilda's the defendant, she killed about a hundred
And she follows wherever you may go
Waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda
You'll go a-waltzing Mathilda with me
And it's a battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace
And a wound that will never heal
No prima donna, the perfume is on
An old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey
And goodnight to the street sweepers
The night watchman flame keepers and goodnight, Mathilda too
@madeleine7411
I got this wonderful gift. I read an article that mentioned Tom Waits so I looked him up and fell in love with his emotional and lovely music. I am only sorry it took me until I was 70.
@carolinearick3082
Better late than never! Can you imagine living without him now that you have found hymn?
@manoutoftime9057
@@TomWaits-qx6kistop with your shite you pathetic charlatan.
@ShastaOrange
Hey, you're still 3 years younger than Tom!
@mantas68
I'm a recovering alcoholic, but I still get the urge to drink from time to time. I listen to this song of a stranger in a strange land, totally drunk, and lost. It brings me back and the urge to drink passes. My Doctors tell me that if I were to continue to waltz with Matilda that it will kill me way, way before my time. I listened to them, got sober, and I'm due for a liver transplant in a year or so. I would've been dead a long time ago if it weren't for this song. Thank you, Tom Waits, for helping me stay sober.
@Boppo101
Music has a wonderful ability to heal, in unexpected ways! If it helps at all, "waltzing matilda" refers to being carefree and rootless - wandering along with nothing more than your meagre belongings tied inside a cloth (a "matlida") that's attached to a stick over your shoulder and swinging ("waltzing") as you walk. Best of luck with your health. I love how Tom Waits and other writers like him can create art that so many people can interpret to mean something personal.
@BillyWetherington
@@Boppo101 I think it was Kierkegaard who said that poets make their pain sound beautiful.
@keithpringle3940
@@BillyWetherington Was it? I'll need to look out his work! Cheers!
@keithpringle3940
@@Boppo101 It sure does mate!
@Blackgeoff1
Very best wishes to you, Michael, for your liver transplant and for the rest of your life. Thank you for helping me realise what this song is really about.