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."
Train Song
Tom Waits Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The Kansas City line
Drunk up all my money that I borrowed every time
And I fell down at the derby
The night's as black as a crow
It was a train that took me away from here
But a train can't bring me home
What made my dreams so hollow was standing at the depot
And I've come ten thousand miles away, not one thing to show
It was a train that took me away from here
But a train can't bring me home
I remember when I left without bothering to pack
Don't you know I up and left
With just the clothes I had on my back?
Now, I'm sorry for what I've done
And I'm out here on my own
It was a train that took me away from here
But a train can't bring me home
It was a train that took me away from here
But a train can't bring me home
The lyrics to Tom Waits's Train Song narrate the story of a man who is at the end of his rope, having reached rock-bottom. The verse "Well, I broke down in East St. Louis, the Kansas City line" emphasizes the point that the man is lost and far from home, consumed by his struggle with alcoholism. Despite his attempts to borrow money, he finds himself drunk and penniless. The dreary and haunting line "And I fell down at the derby, the night's as black as a crow" highlights the sense of hopelessness and despair that the man experiences. It is the train that appears to offer him a way out, an escape from his troubles. However, despite the journey, the man remains hollow and unable to find a way home. The line "It was a train that took me away from here, but a train can't bring me home" encapsulates the man's realization that no matter how far he goes, he cannot escape from himself, and that his problems will always accompany him wherever he goes.
The song appears to be a reflection on the darker themes of life, such as addiction, isolation, and despair. The lyrics highlight the importance of finding one's way back home, not just physically, but also emotionally and mentally. It is a reminder that no matter how far one goes, they can never truly escape from their problems.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I broke down in East St. Louis
I experienced a breakdown in East St. Louis
The Kansas City line
I was traveling on the railway line connected to Kansas City
Drunk up all my money that I borrowed every time
I spent all the loaned money on drinks
And I fell down at the derby
I collapsed during the derby
The night's as black as a crow
It was very dark outside
It was a train that took me away from here
I left on a train from here
But a train can't bring me home
However, a train cannot return me back home
What made my dreams so hollow was standing at the depot
The reason for my unfulfilled dreams stemmed from being at the station
With a steeple full of swallows that could never ring the bell
Despite having a tower full of birds, there was no bell sound
And I've come ten thousand miles away, not one thing to show
I have traveled a great distance but have nothing to show for it
I remember when I left without bothering to pack
I recall leaving with only the clothes on my back
Don't you know I up and left
I suddenly and abruptly departed
Now, I'm sorry for what I've done
I have regrets for my previous actions
And I'm out here on my own
I am currently alone and without assistance
It was a train that took me away from here
I departed from here via the train
But a train can't bring me home
However, I cannot use a train to return home
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, JALMA MUSIC
Written by: THOMAS A. WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Clyde Lagory
I had the absolute PRIVILEGE of watching Big Time on VHS with a very dear friend of mine. I had never heard of Tom Waits until then but my friend, Carl Giacci, knew I'd be hip. I was 22yrs old. It opened my soul up. I'll never be able to explain feeling, seeing, hearing this for the first time. That was all almost 22yrs ago and this song STILL affects me the same as it did the first time I ever heard it.
Wherever you are Carl, I hope the wine flows like water, the steaks are always grilled perfect and the 3 B's still ring true in your ears. I miss you my friend. And thank you for setting me hip to SO MANY great artist. Love you man
D.M.Barnham
The first time I heard this song I cried like a baby ... I don't cry much, so that's a big deal. It's just so beautiful.
Eric Burow
A college roommate of mine (1997) introduced me to this song. It still sounds as crazy to me now as it did then. Listening to it now, I feeling like I'm looking at a shell of a life left behind.
Clyde Lagory
My God what a song.
Ale Alj
Well I broke down in East St. Louis on the Kansas City line
Drunk up all my money that I borrowed every time
And I fell down at the derby, the night's black as a crow
It was a train that took me away from here
But a train can't bring me home
What made my dreams so hollow was standing at the depot
With a steeple full of swallows that could never ring the bell
And I've come ten thousand miles away, not one thing to show
It was a train that took me away from here
But a train can't bring me home
I remember when I left without bothering to pack
Don't you know I up and left with just the clothes I had on my back
Now I'm sorry for what I've done and I'm out here on my own
It was a train that took me away from here
But a train can't bring me home
It was a train that took me away from here
But a train can't bring me home
Trint Martin
The legend.
dp robertson
His intro's are as funny as Tom Lehrer's to a song that could be sadder than a dead pet in your arms.
Clyde Lagory
Beautiful intro
And a FANTASTIC fukin song. Long live Mr. Tom Waits
fernando bouzada
great intro! haha!
the virus
For my cuz Chris x